The thing with handmade is, well, it’s HANDMADE. Handmade jewellery is not produced on mass scale by computers and machines it’s made by little (or big) hands. From start to finish a handmade piece gets love and attention from its maker right from the sizing and shaping of the metal all the way to the polishing and cleaning and photographing. A lot of people query the price of handmade items , they ask why they should pay these prices when they can get pieces for cheaper from wholesale sites. Well if that’s what you’d prefer then that’s a absolutely fine BUT. . you’re jewellery will not be a one off. It will not receive the same love and attention when it’s made as with a handmade piece. You won’t be able to be involved in any of the creative process and there will be a lot of other people walking around wearing exactly the same item as you.
Don’t get me wrong. I really do believe that there is a time and place for wholesale mass produced items and I even use some mass produced components in some of my pieces. Not everyone is worried about having one off pieces and certainly not everyone is in the position to afford bespoke items of jewellery. I am committed to offering a range of products with a range of values each piece will be given my individual love and attention but some will take longer to make than others and inevitably this will be reflected in the price. I feel its important especially then making memorial jewellery to consider making pieces that will be available to a range of affordability brackets.
Personally I've always found it very hard to price my items. and constantly worry about other peoples reactions to the prices of my jewellery. If I'm honest with myself this probably stems from a place of low self esteem and low worth and I know a lot of hand makers struggle with this. I guess its the feeling of fear and worry that a ice made by my own two little hands can not be worthy of their price tag. BUT this is the thing. Each of pieces whether that be plain wedding rings, personalised wedding rings, fingerprint jewellery or memorial jewellery items take me alot of hours to create. I burn and scrape my fingers, give myself repetitive strain injuries and sometimes get my hair caught in motor drills (safety advice should always be followed lol). I polish each piece individually until it is so shiny that its hard to photograph and then I package it and take to the post office. This all takes time and time is money.
So basically my resolution this year is to value myself. Value my jewellery and to value the skills that I have taught myself. I will continue to offer a variety of different price scale items and i will give each piece no matter the price my love and attention.I will continue to try and provide my customers especially those that are purchasing memorial jewellery as much care and attention as I can and I will STOP apologising from my prices.
Not everyone will want to pay handmade prices and that is absolutely fine but I hope that those that do will enjoy my pieces and take comfort from them and also hope that they realise and appreciate the amount of love and care that has gone into each and every piece.
