Handmade Jewelry

There's the kind of handmade jewelry that I like, and the kind that I don't like. Both are pictured to the right. Do you know me well enough to know which piece merits my respect? It's the hand wrought vermeil link bracelet. It's gorgeous and classy. Notice the textured sides and inside. The top surface is flat. Classy, classy, classy. It's signed DB STER. This is the sort of thing that I put in a drawer hoping someday I'll figure out who made it. Then I sell every good piece of jewelry I have in one weekend in Brooklyn, I'm desperate for product and don't have time to shop, so I take it out. I bought this piece last June. I need things to sell. I'm going to charge $150. If it was by the likes of Ed Weiner, I would be able to identify the signature. It's good looking enough to be made by someone important. My guess is that it was made by an artist who sold at venues much like the Brooklyn Flea, who studied the great modernists. You'll like it better when you see it in person. I've apologized for my photography skills enough here on this forum. The rings are all in the same vein. I hang on to them hoping I'll be able to attach some provenance or pedigree to them. I give up. I'm going to sell them for the gorgeous pieces of art that they are. $45 to $85 for those.

Then we have that beaded thing. Lovely to look at, right? I thought it was a deal at $22, so I bought it, even though I never ever ever ever buy craft show beaded crap. It's attractive, chunky, and I thought it would be an easy sale at $45. I picked it up to put a tag on it, and a bead cracked in my hand. Why do I have no respect for this kind of thing???? The materials are garbage, the people who make it do not have access to wholesalers, so they pay retail for their beads and whine all day about what their materials cost, they buy garbage because they have no ability to discern, and beading does not equal jewelry design. So, I did a hasty glue job on the bead, because that's all it deserves. I'm going to try to get my $22 back, but I'll probably take $18. I will not guarantee that this will not fall apart, although I've been offering my customers more guarantees and exchanges lately. I like happy customers. There is some handmade jewelry I can't stand behind though.