What makes a good jeweller

[PhillipSchmidt]

As a jeweller, I think I can spot, from a mile off, a jeweller who has skills. I can see who overdoes his strive for something new or who never gives in, whose standards are great and who finds things easy. They have natural manual dexterity. I can spot a manufacturer with nothing left to give, as well as one with a lot to offer. Does the lay person look for the same things? What about others in the trade?

I haven''t seen many jewellers make good money except those who are also good at business. They understand the balance between profit, perfection and customer expectation; which is what makes a jewellery business successfull.

I''d like to know where you guys stand on the jewellers craft. I want to concentrate on what this site is all about, good diamonds and mounts that compliament them. In other words - for those that love diamonds, please imagine yourself as a jeweller and think of somebody you would admire.

Tell me about him/her,

Thanks

 

[strmrdr]

Sales drones drive me nutz I cant stand them.
People who are always trying to sell me and never listen to what I want are a huge turn off and its the biggest problem I have with my local jewelers.
I much prefer what I call "strait shooters" they are 100% upfront 100% honest with me and dont blow smoke up my fanny.

My designer is like this the other day I went to him with a bracelet design I wanted made.
He listened to the idea thought about it and said that would look good but it wont work.
He then told me why it wouldnt work from the wearability/long term duribility persepective..
It made sense and it was something I wouldnt have thought of.
He then worked with me on some ideas that would work and we worked it out.
I ended up not going with a bracelet at that time and he didnt make me feel like I was wasting his time.
He knew id be back with more projects.

 

[PhillipSchmidt]

Fanny has a different meaning in Australia. I got a strange visualisation

I know what you mean.

Your designer should teach you. The other school of thought is to tell them nothing, don''t confuse them and it is also true that a lot of people can be put off by the process or don''t care.

I had a customer who brought in up to 5ct for each ring he had me make - he didn''t care how I made it, what lucky twist improved the design, how much I charged and he had no love for jewellery. To top it off his wife never wore them and he was unconcerned with my efforts to try and find what his wife would wear. The pressure was off, but I felt more pressure with him, then I would have had he given me strict perameters.

I guess a designers job is too know what the customer wants and he should match his knowledge with theirs. Customers like you are rare though. It is nice for us to have a clear idea of where we are going with things. I have worked for the trade (shops mainly) most of my career, so I have had the luxury of working with experts whose pameters are very grounded. However, there is no excuses with them and you have to make exactly what they designed, so that is where the balance lies.