A leap of faith — David Taylor - Master Jeweller

6th July 2017

In a hurry

Making custom pieces of jewellery takes time. Time to create a concept and then more to bring it into reality.

We did not have much time for this piece as my customer wanted to make a gemstone cross pendant to mark the arrival of the latest addition to his family in the next week.

The design

We did a quick search of images and he liked the pendant to the right. I took that image as a starting point and created something that we both thought was a bit better.

The pendant was to be made in 9ct white gold to be worn on a chain his wife already had. The gemstones in the pendant were to be the birthstones of the family members.

As I designed it I kept in mind gemstone sizes that we had the best chance of being able to obtain and be in the budget. From top to bottom the gemstones are:

Garnet
Amethyst x 2
Peridot
Opal
Ruby

The image was only meant to give an indication of shape and colour but it was enough for him to approve the design and quote. He paid a 30% deposit and we were into it.

I often have regular customers trust me in situations like this to just make it right but for a first time customer I really thought he took a leap of faith with me. The pressure was on!

Sourcing the gemstones

For a custom job like this we needed matching marquise cut gemstones that I did not have on hand. I was able to source the gemstones in Sydney and they arrived to me in about 3 days. The customer was no longer in Cairns so I emailed a photo of the gems to him in Innisfail for his approval.

One gem missing

At our first meeting I showed the customer photos of the different types of Opal and he selected Queensland Boulder Opal as his preference. Good choice thinks the jeweller that worked in Boulder Opal for the best part of 30 years.

We did not have time at the initial meeting to select the Opal to be used so it was later that I found this Opal that I could cut to the required shape. I emailed him a photo for his approval and we now had everything in place.....nearly!

Made that mistake before

With chains varying in sizes it is only logical that not every bail will allow every chain to pass through it. This was certainly the case with his wife`s chain.

I got him to email me a photo of the chain and I soon saw that I needed to make changes to the bail. As we had designed it so far it would be too small for her quite large chain.

I often get customers to email me photos, post out size drafts or whatever it takes to make sure that the size is right. I could not think of anything worse than going to all the trouble of custom making a piece of jewellery only for it to not be able to be worn. Worse still if alterations are not possible.

Time to make the pendant.

This pendant is quite large. From the top of the bail to the bottom of the pendant is a touch under 5cm. The baby arrived healthy, the pendant was in time and she loves them both.

This customer has promised to plan ahead a bit more next time. Now I am happy as well :)