Commissions

Ring in 18k white and yellow gold with pink sapphire

I'm currently working on a ring commission at the moment using the customers old gold jewellery to melt down and the stones that were in these old pieces of jewellery. With gold so expensive now I find a lot of people are digging into their jewellery boxes and finding things they want re-vamped. I genuinely like doing commissions especially more complex ones but there are things about the work that make me anxious and I find myself procrastinating a little when I should be concentrating and trying to figure out exactly how to do a piece especially when the design is forcing me to do something I wouldn't normally choose to do.

What makes me anxious?

When I can't get hold of the customer, they don't return calls or emails and I am left wondering.

When I meet with the customer for the first time at my house - I use my kitchen to meet in as it has the best light. No one has openly said that it is strange yet, and it does make me clean the kitchen extra well.

When I have to give them the quote - someone in business once told me that if you don't have anyone saying "Oh that's too expensive" then your prices are too low.

When I have to guestimate how much gold I need for a piece.

When I have to decide on placement of stones especially if the design calls for a random look.

When I'm making a bezel for a stone that isn't round or oval.

When I am sizing the shank of a ring - I want it to fit perfectly at all times and I know this isn't possible.

In short - most of the time. I do enough ring commissions that I feel okay accepting them but not enough that I feel super comfortable with every situation. They are a good source of income in my business though and things have started picking up after a year or so of slim pickings. I have balked at the idea of promoting ring commissions on my website though because I find doing long distance work is more fraught with customer complications than working with someone I can physically meet. I'd like to hear from anyone who does though, perhaps they could give me some tips.

Finding customers

Hello new followers, thanks for joining. I was wondering whether anyone has any interesting stories about how they stumbled onto customers?

I have a story of my own. A few years ago I was in the UK visiting my family. My Mum and I were at the famous Chelsea Flower Show in London for the day, trekking around trying to take it all in. We stopped at the stand of a woman selling her nursery plants and copies of her book. Her name was Carol Klein and she was just starting to become known in the gardening world in England. She complemented me on my earrings. I said thank you I made them, as you do. She asked me to make her a pair (and I bought her book).

I duly made the earrings and shipped them off. The following year I got a phone call from her husband saying that Carol wore them everyday and wanted something new. By this time my Mum had sent me photos of Carol from her newspaper column, wearing the earrings. I sent over some sketches of ideas but I never heard anything back, despite a follow up email.

Two years later her husband phoned me again saying Carol must have new earrings - she was presenting BBC Gardener's World by this time. Thinking that sketches and design decisions weren't going to cut it, I offered to send three pairs of earrings to them, they could choose what they wanted and return the others. They bought all three pairs and I was thrilled the first time I saw Carol wearing a pair on the tele.

The design has been a best seller for me and I wear my own pair often. Today I decided to update them, so I made them as I always do but enamelled them with shades of transparent green enamels. I am blowing my own trumpet today but would love to hear your stories too...