Gyrogami Blog - Precious Metals, Jewelry, Artwork

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Categories: Rants; Commerce and business; Human nature

Word count/read time: 491 words; 2 minutes

A business will struggle at times. It's not a bad thing as long as there's legitimate progress and no major deficiencies. However, some shortcomings need immediate attention.

No website - Having accounts on every social media platform and selling on a few online venues are fine but be a real business.

Marketing materials - Business cards? Signs for craft shows? Handouts? A stray typo, grammar, or usage mistake may slip by but use a spelling and grammar checker. Further, a $20 custom rubber stamp is affordable to anyone.

Create - Artists create and design. Buying pre-made components...well, it's paint-by-numbers. Countless craft shows say "No items from kits or reselling allowed!" so others believe the same.

Work quality - Every craft has its own criteria to identify skilled artisans. For instance, pinch-cut and improperly closed rings are a danger with their sharp, unforgiving metal edges that favor neither clothing nor skin. Quality may be more about materials than workmanship.

Breaking the law - Fraudulently using legally defined words like handmade and corrosion-resistant, selling fake goods, and dishonest marketing are illegal.

Hallmarking - Applying a purity mark on precious metal jewelry means it must have a federally registered trademark accompanying it. There is an appalling amount of fake silver and gold knowingly dumped into the marketplace.

Experience - Vast experience doesn't translate into quality work. Decent people fix their mistakes and take steps to prevent them from re-occurring.

Poor finish work - The finished product needn't be showroom-ready but certainly better than the average flea market find.

Selling butted precious metals - Properly made precious metal chains are welded or soldered because they are too weak otherwise. The laws of physics, ya know?

Arguing with science - Even denialists must agree that measurements are a "fact" in our universe. A gap or misalignment big enough to let another ring slip by is a failure in any context.

Pictures - Show me everything. Multiple pictures at the same position/angle - remember, there are at least six sides - and any out-of-focus ones are useless. Maybe two of the packaging and/or marketing materials at most but leave it alone after that.

Consistency - Call it organic, free-form, or whatever, it's is usually a bad sign. Such imprecision will inevitably appear elsewhere.

Social media - Whether posting useless content, commenting without being constructive, or success bombing, if it's been done or answered already then forego your two cents' worth.

Defending any activities listed above - Honorable people do not behave this way and it's helpful when they speak up. Unfortunately, when groups of (vocal) people all believe the same (wrong) thing then truth is the first casualty.

Summary: Luxury items like jewelry should also be equitably sourced from man and nature. Actually, the non-essentials demand the highest standards. A savvy, educated consumer always knows what they're buying and makes the best choice.

Posted by M: February 4, 2023

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