Gyrogami Blog - Precious Metals, Jewelry, Artwork

4:33pm Saturday

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A 69"+ finished section
Drawn down to 1/4"

Categories: Commerce and business

Word count/read time: 503 words; 2 minutes

It started with my helping to identify a chain. I forwarded some links from my website so she could learn about loop-in-loop chains. There was mention of needing 10 meters but the cost would have been prohibitive for her purposes and budget. So I made a few samples of Viking Knit instead which proved to be satisfactory.

Abruptly and inexplicably the emails dropped off Thursday. It seemed like we were in the midst of a time-sensitive cyber negotiation. Then emails wouldn't load at all because my ISP had yet another bug.

What's this, a phone number with way too many digits to be American? At 4:33pm, she asked what I was doing. I said making chainmaille. She was relieved until she found out it wasn't for her. She was sending emails all along but even after the problem was "fixed," they never showed up! It was a green light but it needed to be mailed Monday. A tall order for five meters of double-loop six-sided Viking Knit chain.

I hit the road immediately to get wire. At the fourth store, a course correction was necessary because there was not enough of the wire I wanted. The weave would have to be changed slightly which meant the original 24 hours became 30! A blessing in disguise - the weave came out better than my sample.

Silverplated wire saved well over $1000 compared to 0.999 fine silver. Besides, it would have taken too much time to draw the wire and then I'd have to weave it all by myself...45 hours of labor doesn't fit into a 36-hour window.

(FYI: Precious metal Viking Knit chains are poorly made low-quality impostors if each successive wire is not welded or soldered to the existing one. "Everyone" chooses the simple and lazy way instead of doing it properly. It's over-priced junk if it isn't made to jewelry standards.)

The first stitch hit the dowel at 10pm. Two all-nighters were unrealistic so I enlisted a fellow artist. Ideally it would have been one continuous chain but had to be woven in three separate sections to make the deadline. It was still the longest I've made.

With less than an hour to spare, $130 express shipping sent 5.4 meters of finished chain, comprising nearly 600ft. of 24ga wire, to a frenzied Friday fiendish fashion shoot in New Zealand. It was one of the least stressful chains I've made, rhythmic and rote without a sense of time or tedium. Compared to the Dragonscale bracelet, it was a walk in the park.

In stark contrast, some sellers' claim to fame seems to be how many shows or movies use their pieces. Anyone with a hefty bank account can pay a ridiculous price for an obscure actor to wear their stuff. Shamelessly bragging about it, as if quality or desirability played a role, is juvenile. The irony: They pay a handsome price for the privilege whereas I was paid a handsome price as a privilege. I will stick to the latter and remain silent.

Posted by M: October 30, 2020

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