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The Wire Art Education Center
Hello Everyone,Lately I've noticed that many people "in the know" have been suggesting using gold and silver toned wire. While these can be a low cost alternative to precious metals, I'm not altogether sure that they're a good idea. Cheap doesn't always imply good. Here are my thoughts on the subject.
My first concern is durability. These 'metals' don't hold up as well as the real thing. Discoloration over time becomes a real factor. Here's why. Let's say you had a beautiful natural stone cabochon. You create a wonderful setting for it that you are extremely proud of. The problem is you used toned wire for it. You display all of your wonderful and unique pieces at an art show and your work sells like hot cakes. No problem, right? The problem comes when you visit that show the very next year. You again display your work, but this time sales seem to have dropped off - what's the problem? You should be getting repeat customers from the previous year. The problem is reputation. All of that beautiful work you did the previous year has now discolored and looks cheap.
Another concern, somewhat related to the previous one is look. The metal may look gold or silver but it just seems to be missing something. The tone of the color just doesn't look right. I've never looked at gold tone wire and thought that it might be gold. Believe me, people who visit your booth at an arts and crafts show can tell that the metal you are using isn't the real thing.
This brings up another concern. When using cheap materials aren't you suppose to lower your prices? Know one ever does, do they? So why do it?
Here are a few suggestions to help keep your reputation and still use quality materials in your work.
1. Buy in smaller quantities. This takes planning. Sit down with a sketchpad and draw out some of your ideas for certain cabochons that you would like to work with. Use these sketches to figure out about how much metal you'll need. Once you have an estimate of how much you'll need, place an order for those materials. Rio grande has recently allowed people to purchase just the materials that they need instead of holding to their minimum purchase policy. You may have to limit your creating to small bursts of brilliance.
2. Use aluminum, copper and brass. Because the high cost associated with gold and silver many consumers just aren't buying jewelry made it. This trend has allowed jewelry artists to explore other metals. Because we're artists we've been able to adapt and come up with some beautiful results. So why not give it a go.
3. If you have to go cheaper but want to stay with gold and silver, try gold and silver filled. Most wire artists are familiar with gold filled wire, but a new arrival on the scene is sterling silver filled. As you would expect, silver filled wire looks and acts just like regular sterling. So why not give it a try.
4. Think quality, not quantity. When I plan for art shows I always have the desire to fill my booth with a ton of work. Since the downturn of the economy my thinking has changed a little. Instead of turning our a couple hundred pieces for a show, I have cut that down to under 100. But there's a difference in the work that I do today than what I was doing. I try to select stones that really have a wow factor (interesting patterns and color) and set them in good quality metals - mostly sterling silver. This implies high quality to the consumer. If the consumer percieves a high value in the piece, they are more apt to splurge on it.
One final thought. If you do use silver or gold in your work hold on to every scrap that you have. Many jewelry supply companys have a recycle program that will pay you either cash or give you a credit for your unused trimmings. These recycled scraps can be used to purchase more metal for future pieces.
Hopefully my little rant has saved your reputation. It's easy to lose your reputation but takes a life time to get get it back.
'til Next Week
Jim McIntosh
The Wire Art Education Center
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