4th December 2021

The above pendant is based on a design I created in my “make & melt” series during the COVID lockdown. I have modified it in this version to a slightly larger gem size but left the rest of the design unchanged. I have prepared this model for somewhat mass production (more like repeat with my small operation) and the first three are in the Specials section.

Today almost all the pieces I make are one off custom designs. However for the first half of my working life I primarily set up designs for mass production and sale in the Opal Industry. I have decided to utilise some of those skills again and this is why.

Back in the day

I have a lot of gems laying around that I need to start finding homes for or I am going to die with them in the safe :)

Many of them are semi-precious gems like Garnets, Amethyst, Citrine, Topaz, Cubic Zirconia etc that I purchased for a range of jewellery that my daughter sold online to enable her to eat whilst she was at University :) That must be over 15 years ago now and the gems have just sat in the safe ever since.

I also have a habit of buying “extras” for jobs that allow me to pick the best one for the piece. The unused gems inevitably go into this lunch box above. My wife just shakes her head whenever she sees me add to it. I have no idea how many gemstones are in there!

The plan is to make a range of jewellery in Sterling Silver for as low a price as I can using many of those gemstones and repeated designs. I will then post them for sale in the Specials section of the website.

Economy of scale

For this pendant I have initially made 3 and left 2 unset so that customers can select which colour gem they want set into them. I need to make a whole lot more and sell them to make this work.

To make the master pattern of this pendant took about 6 hours. Then to set that intial piece up for repeat production using a mould like the one above took another couple of hours. I explain more about the use of moulds in manufacturing in this article. This article is about restoring a ring but much of the process is the same:

Article: Mould, mend and make

Then there are photographs, putting it on the web….you get the idea….a lot of time that only pays for itself when I sell quite a few of the same design at a price lower than the initial time cost.

The above is also in part the reason why one off exclusive pieces can get very expensive, all that time has to paid for in one piece of jewellery.

Here are the details of the pendant which you can also view in the specials section of the website:

DP998
5mm round cut Amethyst
Oxidised Sterling Silver
3.3cm from the top of the bail to base of the pendant
Gift boxed
Available using other gems, please email me for details.
$85

Details on how to purchase my jewellery can be read here or please feel free to call or email me.

Most of the jewellery today is mass produced from patterns/moulds like these pendants were. I hope to do them in a better ”mass produced” quality and some out of the usual designs. Hopefully this project will enable more people to wear something I have made….if not totally by hand and custom.

My World

I have hurt my foot at work and roaming My World as usual is out for me at the moment. So this Saturday after work I headed into Barron Gorge and spent the afternoon at a little cave I visit that over looks the river.

Unable to walk far I sat there with the very noisy Metallic Starlings overhead and enjoyed the afternoon with just the tiniest bit of exploring. More photos from the afternoon here. Have a great weekend.