I am frequently asked how long it takes me to make a piece of jewellery. Sometimes this question is asked out of curiosity about the technical differences between factory-made and handcrafted work. Sometimes by people who want to learn to make silver jewellery and are wondering about the level of commitment required. And sometimes I am asked it to justify my prices. The answer is: "it depends..." - on the complexity of the piece.
Time isn't always about size. A plain, chunky bangle takes less time to make than a detailed ring. An asymmetrical pair of earrings takes more design time than a matching pair. Stone setting can be quick, but a piece with different polished surfaces can seem to take forever to get just right. But a large piece of work, such as a necklace, that contains lots of detail and embellishment will take the longest time of all, as it is made stage by stage in individual sections and then put together.
It may seem obvious that a pair of earrings takes double the time spent on making a pendant, and often longer. Many people assume that once the first earring is made it is just a matter of quickly copying it for the next one. It's easy to make this mistake when first starting to make jewellery too, until you end up with a set of earrings that just don't look right because they both point in the same direction! Designing and making an earring, and then making its partner, exercises both sides of the brain in terms of design and the technicalities of making, as the earrings have to mirror one another to make sure they look like a pair when they are worn. The difference between a factory-made pair and a handcrafted pair can usually be seen in the attention paid to this subtle mirroring. Keeping in mind as you make earring no 2 that it has to be the opposite of earring no 1 in every way requires steady work and lots of concentration, as it's all too easy to forget to position two stones so that their textures reflect one another or to turn a loop in the opposite direction. Any deviation can ruin the earring, and require an adjustment or remake. In a way, earrings are made for one another as much as their wearer.
The 'boring' aspects of making can take a considerable amount of time, and that's if nothing goes wrong in the process! Some aspects can be quick, some take longer than you ever imagined, while others are worth taking plenty of time over - no matter how tedious. The soldering process can be slow, with different elements of the piece having to be set up correctly on the soldering block or wig and soldered together piece by piece using different strengths of solder. I regularly spend up to an hour just setting up a complex piece to be soldered. The soldering stage is when the components of the piece are permanently 'committed' together and, if not set up securely, movement, slippage and even explosions can all take place when the metal is heated, and spoil the piece. Likewise, finishing and polishing can take up to 60% of the amount of time spent on making the piece of jewellery, with different types of filing, cleaning and polishing having to be carried out at different points in the process.
With handcrafted work the final price of the jewellery doesn't usually reflect every day, hour and minute it took to make. If it did, then the items would have to be priced out of the reach of most people who enjoy buying and wearing unique jewellery. There is a theoretical argument that the price should reflect every minute spent on the piece, including all design, making, cleaning and packaging time, and the advised going rate is £10 per hour. (much less than the hourly rate of a plumber or mechanic!). However, in reality the whole time spent is usually compressed to just take account of the actual time spent carrying out the hands-on processes to come up with a fair price that reflects the work and skill involved and to suit most pockets.
