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FEATURE STORY

By Suzanne Wade

Betty Belmonte turned to an outside caster to reproduce the end pieces to her woven metal pieces when she realized the volume she was selling. Photo: Ralph Gabriner. Da Vinci had one. So did Michelangelo. And Rembrandt. In fact, the widespread use of the artist's studio, in which works were produced by others under the supervision of the master artist, means that the idea of the production line has been with us since the Renaissance. Jewelry craftspeople often create production lines with the same goals as the Renaissance masters - to produce income-generating bread-and-butter pieces to fund the artist's creative endeavors. The epitome of this practice was Fabergé a lot of work needed to be sold to support the one-of-a-kind artistic flights of fancy that were given as gifts to the Tsars. Where the Renaissance masters relied on a long apprenticeship tradition, today's artists are equally likely to call on hired assistants and commercial subcontractors such as casters. But however the line is produced, for many artists, the ability to produce multiples of strong-selling pieces means the difference between making a living as an artist and holding a day job as a bank teller or waiter. “The fact of the matter is that as a studio jeweler, one person can only make so much jewelry,” says Deb Karash, a studio jeweler in Rockford, Illinois, whose production line includes bracelets and goddess pins. “If you want to raise your income, you have to raise prices or have someone else working for you - and I don't want to raise my prices so high that people can't afford to have my work.” The ability to keep prices within a certain range is one of the major advantages of having a production line. Because design time is spread among many pieces, rather than concentrated in a single, one-of-a-kind effort, the artist can afford to price a piece less expensively than he or she might otherwise.   Deb Karash makes production pieces in sterling silver and brass or copper; her Urban Goddess pins can be specially ordered to the client's wishes. "[A production line] amortizes your design time so that the effort you put into creating the line gets paid for over a long period of time,” says Betty Helen Longhi, a jewelry craftsperson making both one-of-a-kind and production pieces in her studio, Expressions in Metal, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. “The whole idea is that you can make a good design, then make it a lot of times to cover the cost of designing. “As a person who's in business, you need to make money and produce product the public can afford,” she adds. “The best way to do that is to do production.” A production line offers another distinct advantage to the craftsperson as well - a steady stream of income from proven sellers. “The advantage is in having repeat orders,” says Sherris Cottier Shank, a Southfield, Michigan, gem cutter who recently introduced a line of production gemstone carvings. “Once jewelry manufacturers start selling [production pieces], they continue to reorder and it's a very steady business. Establishing the business in the first place [can be] hard, but once it's rolling it has a momentum all its own.” THE STARTING LINE. Developing a production line can mean anything from a design replicated multiple times by the artist's own hand to a studio where hired assistants and commercial subcontractors do the majority of the execution of the artist's designs. Karash, for example, hand fabricates virtually all of her production, which is generally limited to 10 to 15 pieces at a time, while Boston, Massachusetts, production jeweler Betsy Frost relies extensively on subcontractors and paid assistants to create her line of sterling silver jewelry, which is sold in galleries across the country. Deb Karash's cuff bracelets bear different words and quotations, and can be specially ordered to the client's wishes. Other artists opt for limited production, in which the same basic design is used either a limited number of times, or with slight variations in each piece. “I do theme pieces, where I take a basic background format and design elements that I use, like a pearl and a piece of forged gold, and design around that,” says Longhi. “I can charge a production price, because the way of designing it has been set and mechanical problems have been solved, but it gives me the freedom to play within those parameters. For me, that's been a great way to do production work without the burnout of cranking out the same piece over and over.” Whatever type of production the artist chooses, the first step to creating a production line is design. While some artists choose to design pieces specifically for the line, others select strong sellers from the artist's one-of-a-kind offerings that will lend themselves to production. “I originally made one-of-a-kind pieces, then I chose something I could move into production,” says Karash. “I chose [the ones I did] because they were pieces that I could duplicate fairly easily and because they were very popular. They're also pieces that I can make fairly quickly and sell at a reasonable price, so they're very affordable and very wearable.” For Cottier Shank, the incentive was to find a more efficient way to meet demand for a particular type of gemstone. “When I was doing strictly one of a kind, I was doing a lot of carved onyx, and it seemed no matter how much I cut, I was still cutting more, so I decided to look into a way to make that process easier,” she says. Frost, on the other hand, designs her pieces with production in mind. “When I'm creating, I'm creating new prototypes and I'm trying to design in a way that will assemble effectively and work on a production level,” she says. “I haven't made a one-of-a-kind piece since art school.” To be a successful addition to a production line, a piece must be easily reproducible, whether it achieves that status intentionally or serendipitously. “You have to be able to control the outcome of what you're doing,” says Karash. “If you have a piece where you're spending a lot of time doing elaborate mechanisms or something, it doesn't lend itself to production because you can't make it fast enough and it's very tedious [to repeat].” Designs should also avoid one-of-a-kind materials, such as unusual gemstones or other materials that may not be readily available when that big order comes in. “In my one-of-a-kind pieces, I use a lot of unusual things - colored surfaces and horsehair and things like that,” says Karash. “But I don't use them in my production pieces: I stay strictly metal in those. My production pieces don't have stones in them, but if I were [using stones], then I'd have to have a source to get that stone every time.” “You have to be careful to design a piece you know you can reproduce, that you can polish and finish, and that you can do all these things in the right amount of time,” says Cottier Shank. “When you do production, everything is exaggerated - any problem that you have with one-of-a-kind will become more [of a problem]. So if you design a piece that's difficult to polish, and then you have to sand and polish 300 of them, your life is really bad.” For a gem cutter, that means working in a material that lends itself to repetition as well. “You have to have pieces of rough that are always the same size and thickness, so that eliminates certain kinds of materials, or it means you have to do a lot of rough preparation,” says Cottier Shank. “When you've promised someone this piece is going to be just the one you showed them, you can't make changes along the way.” TAKING ON HELP. Once you've settled on a design to reproduce, the next step is to find people who can help you. One option is to hire an assistant - whether an employee or a jeweler with a studio of his or her own who can work as an independent contractor.   Betsy Frost's Cage necklace and earrings come with “trapped” synthetic stones; customers can order their jewelry with genuine stones as well. Photo: Peter Groesbeck. Finding that person can often be as much a matter of serendipity as any traditional hiring plan. “When I need an assistant, one just shows up,” laughs Longhi, who has found assistants through chance remarks made to people in galleries and lunchrooms. “I think it's part of being out there in the arts community.” Frost notes that she has found most of her assistants through word-of-mouth and her connections to her alma mater, the Massachusetts College of Art, and through the Massachusetts Alliance for the Arts. One thing to consider when hiring assistants is what you may have to offer outside of a salary, whether it's flexible hours or the use of your studio and equipment to pursue their own projects. Many artists also find a willingness to teach can help compensate for a less-than-generous wage and benefits package. “I get assistants more in terms of apprenticeships because I like to teach,” says Longhi. “Since I don't have a high profit margin, I do pay a salary, but maybe not as much as if they were professionals. It's a learning process, and I'm kind of paying [in knowledge].” Betsy Frost designs her jewelry with production in mind, focusing on what will assemble effectively. Photo: Peter Groesbeck. Having an assistant will help reduce the amount of repetitive jewelry work you need to do, but may not save you as much time as you might expect. “Managing is something that takes longer than I ever thought it would,” says Frost, who pays two independent contractors to handle much of the soldering and cleanup of her pieces. “When I have independent contractors working in the studio, I usually have a hard time getting things accomplished on my own. So I go in, manage, and then come back at night to get my work done.” That time spent away from creative endeavors may be even greater if you've hired your assistant based on the learning opportunities your workshop will provide. “It usually takes a year until someone gets to know my work well enough so they can do them, and it's frustrating when someone gets to that point and they move on,” says Longhi. “For the first several months [it may take more time than it saves], because of all the mistakes that happen and that you just have to accept as part and parcel of the learning process. After the initial part, though, [having an assistant] definitely does pay for itself, and it mostly removes the pressure on me of making all the production work, which is what I really want to avoid.” CASTING CALLS. If teaching isn't your cup of tea, or you live in an area where there are few jewelers available for hire, a second option for increasing your production is to rely on commercial subcontractors. Companies specializing in everything from casting and stamping to stone-setting and finishing can be located by asking for references from other studio jewelers, monitoring online forums such as the Orchid newsgroup sponsored by Ganoksin.com (www.ganoksin.com), and through Manufacturing Jewelers and Suppliers of America's ReferralNet (mjsa.polygon.net). A benefit of production work is a steady income from designs that are proven sellers. Ring by Jacqueline Sanchez of 14K white gold with a yellow gold rivet, .25 tcw diamonds, and a black pearl. Photo: Max Birnkammer. Frost also recommends attending one of MJSA's trade shows: Expo New York, held each year in March; Expo Providence, held every other year in April; the MJSA Pavilion in Tucson, held each year in conjunction with the AGTA Gem Fair; and the Los Angeles Technology Showcase, held in April. “Go to an MJSA show,” Frost advises her students. “I've found [most of my] subcontractors, such as casters, assemblers, and polishers, primarily through the MJSA, which I think is just an unbelievable resource.” (The MJSA shows are open to the trade only: call 1-800-444-MJSA for registration information.) Wherever you find them, the key to developing a good relationship with a contractor is communication. “There were conversations I had with people where I thought I was being really clear about what I wanted, and they sounded like they understood, and then they would send me back something and it had no relationship to what I was saying,” says Cottier Shank. “I knew I had found a good relationship with the woman who is doing my ultrasonic cutting because she has years of lapidary experience, and she understood what I was saying. You also want someone willing to tell you 'I don't think this will work and this is why' and who can offer their own suggestions to get you to your goal.” The major disadvantage to using a subcontractor is that you give up a certain amount of control. “If someone tells me two days in advance, 'Oh, I need this,' my hands are tied,” says Jacqueline Sanchez of Jacqueline Sanchez Jewelry Designs in Atlanta, Georgia. “You're at the mercy of someone else with their deadlines and turn-around time.” And setting up a production line doesn't happen overnight. “To get anything started, it takes a big initial push,” says Cottier Shank, who spent several years researching potential methods of cutting her production gems. “It's extremely time-consuming, and it doesn't happen within any specific time frame. You can say 'I want to find somebody this week,' and you can do your best to make it happen, but you may not find them until later this year. And until you've got all the pieces in place, you really can't make promises to people.” You also need to allow time to work the kinks out of the process. “I had never had anything cast,” says Betty Belmonte of Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, who started casting the end pieces to her woven silver bracelets when she realized the volume she was selling. “My original [design] was totally uncastable. Some of the silver was too thin, and then I wanted to cast rings on the end, and that took an entirely different gauge of wire. [Fortunately, I found a caster] who was willing to work with me until we got it right, which took many iterations.” INSPIRED PRODUCTIVITY. Perhaps the most common reason jewelry craftspeople shy away from production work is a fear that it will suppress their creativity. But although production jewelry design does come with built-in limitations, creating a production line can inspire creativity as well as putting bread on the table. “[Production work] challenges your creativity in a whole lot of different ways,” says Cottier Shank. “I think [the two types of work] feed each other. If I find things that won't work in production, I stash the idea and use it in my next one-of-a-kind pieces. If I'm doing one-of-a-kind and I think something works really well, I think, 'I can do this [for production].' So I think it's aided my creativity, and been very stimulating.” For many jewelry artists, the key to avoiding burnout is to strike a balance between production work and creating one-of-a-kind pieces. “It's a lot more limiting to do production, but that's not necessarily a bad thing, because you're not always fabulously creative every day,” says Karash. “For me it's kind of comforting to know I have something to make when I go to work every day, even if I don't have any brilliant ideas that day.” “If all you did was production, I think that could be pretty limiting,” says Longhi. “You're designing for a limited price range, and that prevents you from working in a lot of detail or with expensive materials. But there are times when it's really nice to come into the studio and just do the process without worrying about the design. It's really relaxing. If you did nothing but that, it would become boring after a while. But if you do it as part of an overall body of work, it's great.” Artists whose work is shown are: Betty Belmonte, betty-belmonte@usa.net; Betsy Frost, (617) 524-8038, www.betsyfrostdesign.com; Deb Karash, (815) 239-9048, dkjewelry@aol.com; Jacqueline Sanchez, (404) 378-1802, www.jacquelinesanchez.com; Sherris Cottier Shank, (248) 352-7820, gemscapes@aol.com.

 

Getting Along with Your Caster

The first contractor many studio jewelers work with is a caster, since starting up a casting operation involves a serious investment in both equipment and time to learn the casting process. For many artists, it's both simpler and more cost-effective to locate a subcontractor who can handle that end of the operation. Finding a caster isn't difficult - there are 86 different companies listed on MJSA's ReferralNet alone, plus numerous others that rely on word-of-mouth or advertisements in trade magazines to attract customers. Finding a caster you're happy working with, on the other hand, isn't always as easy. “I was using two other casting companies who produced really poor quality and were having a hard time taking orders,” says Jacqueline Sanchez of Jacqueline Sanchez Jewelry Designs in Atlanta, Georgia. “When I went to school I studied casting, but I'm not an expert and I don't do it at all, so I've forgotten a lot of things. So I'd play stupid and say, 'Oh, I don't cast,' and they'd tell me things about why [a piece] didn't work, and I knew they were lying to me. So I just said, 'Forget these people.'” In desperation, she appealed to the readers of the Orchid on-line forum for help, and soon found another caster who understood her needs - and was able to solve her problems. Finding someone you can communicate with and who can recommend solutions to your casting problems is critical if you're going to be satisfied by your results, says Daniel Grandi of Racecar Jewelry Company, a Cranston, Rhode Island, contract caster that specializes in working with studio jewelers. “If the caster you're doing business with doesn't make recommendations to solve the problem, and can't resolve the problem [themselves], maybe they don't have enough experience, or their methods are different from someone who does high-end jewelry,” he says. Jewelers who lack experience with casting may also need help designing a model that will cast well, he notes. “I would say the most common misconception is that whatever [the studio jeweler] comes up with can be made as it is without changes or any further modification,” he says. “[For example] some designers try to make pieces with lots of parts soldered on to it, and some [parts] are thick and some are thin. That's not going to cast correctly, because it wasn't really designed as a model.”

In addition, good communication between caster and designer can save the jeweler both time and money. “It's important for the caster to get across that although [the designer] wants to accomplish a specific look, there are more ways than the way they originally designed or made it to do that,” says Grandi. “There may be some changes they could do to make it easier to manufacture, and it will come out better and less costly - for example, they might texture the backs of items, or stamp the models. I'll tell them they're better off having a $75 hand stamp made, so they don't have to hand engrave it [with a signature].” Some other factors to consider when selecting a caster: Price. “Consistency in pricing [is crucial],” says Betsy Frost, a production jeweler in Boston, Massachusetts. “[The subcontractor's price] locks into my equation for how I price my work.” You'll also want to be absolutely clear on what's included in the price and what's an additional fee, such as wax injection of molds, de-gating and initial finishing, and who pays for re-work if the end product isn't satisfactory. Turnaround time. “There are so many casters who will say turnaround is three weeks, and you get [the product] six weeks later,” says Frost. “That just screws up my whole shipping schedule, especially since I've promised galleries the work.” Other services offered. Does the caster make molds from a master model, or will you have to provide a rubber mold? Does the caster store your mold or return it to you? Can the caster finish the piece, if desired? Is stone-setting available? Although you can always find other subcontractors to handle these steps, it may cut down on turnaround time if a single company handles all the steps you intend to contract out. Even if you're satisfied with your current caster, it doesn't hurt to periodically send a sample order to a new caster, says Frost. “Different casters have different specialties, so keep on trying new casters,” she advises. “From the beginning, I've tried to spread out [my work] among my casters, and that helps me to learn which ones are better at which types of pieces.” -SW For more information on finding a caster appropriate to your needs, see “Making Life Simple: 8 Reasons to Send Your Casting Out,” June 2000, and “Finding Your Way Through Lost Wax Casting,” February 2001.

Suzanne Wade has written about the gem and jewelry industry for more than eight years. Formerly editor/associate publisher of AJM Magazine, she is now a part-time freelance writer and full-time mom.

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