Fine Jewelry Cuff Link ?
Q.I am new to jewelry but would appreciate feedback from the regulars. I have been looking at platinum bracelets but have noticed that they are very expensive. On the open market, gold is $375 per ounce and platinum is $730 per ounce. However, I am finding platinum jewelry three to four times more expensive than gold. So be it. I know that I can buy .9999 pure platinum Eagles from gold dealers and I am wondering if a jeweler out there can create a custom bracelet for me. I would pay a set fee of X dollars for the manufacturing of the bracelet. I have read from this group that platinum is a bitch to work with, but would appreciate people's thoughts on the matter. Finally, if all the above is possible, how long would it take a jeweler to craft an 8" bracelet and how much would it cost? Would the jeweler be pissed if I baby sat him/her so I knew that he/she was not ripping me off by mixing the platinum with silver or another cheaper metal? If baby-sitting is not an option, then how to know that the manufactured bracelet is 100% pure platinum after it is manufactured?
A.As I told you in email, pure platinum is almost never used in jewelry making. It's just too soft. Even the alloys we usually use, which are normally either 90 percent pure platinum, or 95 percent pure platinum, are still quite soft in some ways. It bends and deforms easily, even though it's quite strong, and resists wear better than any of the other jewelry metals. So buying Eagles will not help you, and they cost more than platinum spot price anyway. We buy our metal from the refiners, already alloyed in most cases. Common alloys used in the U.S. are iridium, either 5% or more commonly 10% (this is the most common of the "traditional" platinum alloys, at least in the U.S.) or for cast work, 5% cobalt. In europe, most platinum alloys are 95% pure, and in addition to those used in the U.S. often include alloys with 5% copper, or with palladium, among others. Working platinum isn't a bitch, it just requires discipline, sometimes different tools and procedures, and generally better craftsmanship. It's just different from gold. once you get used to it, you often get to prefer it to other metals. I can make platinum into good jewelry designs that could not be properly made in any other metal, in some cases. It's wonderful stuff. But you DO have to know what you're doing. It's completely reasonable to ask for a firm price quote before the piece is made, once the design has been finalized. Whether that's a fee for just the labor, with metal to be figured later, or supplied by you, or whether it's an overall price, matters little in the long run. It can be itemized however is wished. The main point is to know up front what the work will cost, and there's nothing unreasonable about that. You'll need to be MUCH more detailed and specific about the design for anyone to quote a cost on this. Is it a link, a solid bangle, some sort of chain? What about decorative aspects? Plain metal, engraved, something else, what? Some bracelets might be made in an hour, while others might take a hundred hours. Or more. Depends on what you want made. First, if the jeweler wanted to rip you off, it could likely be be done without your knowing it. If you were truely watching so closely as to see every bit of the work, frankly, you'd be too close for the jeweler to be able to work properly. And that would piss off the jeweler, I'll bet. If you're going to ask to watch, do it with the clear understanding that the motive is because your interested in how it's done. Keep any suspicious insulting thoughts very much to yourself. The implied meaning of such supervision is just too much of an insult, even if the customer's wish is based on ignorance, not a real suspicion. But a customer really interested in the nuts and bolts of how it's done, might be better recieved. Still, please understand that it's not reasonable to really watch closely over our shoulders for long periods. We'll get claustrophobic or trip all over you, or accidentally set your hair on fire with the high temperatures we need to use when working platinum. Or, more likely, you'll quickly get bored what with not quite understanding everything being done, nor quite being able to see exactly what's happening from a reasonable distance. And, as I mentioned above, if the jeweler gives you a bracelet truly made of pure platinum, then he/she has just ripped you off, because such a bracelet will not be as sturdy or wearable or long lived as it needs to be. What you need is simply to know what the alloy is, why it was used, and ask the jeweler to properly mark the piece with the quality of the metal and his trademark. If at some time you were suspicious, you could always submit the bracelet to a lab for analysis, or send it to one of the U.K hallmarking offices and have the pros test it. That's the routine for everything made in the U.K, so the metal quality there has always been tested and marked by the government, making cheating very much more difficult to do. But as I've said before, you're best bet is to find someone who's work you like, who you feel you can trust and who is recommended by others, and then let them do the job without you trying to babysit or mistrust him for what he's doing (At least don't let the jeweler know).
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