Continue reading »]]> I really enjoy making bespoke commissions for clients and know that the process can take some time. Sometimes you meet people interested in your work when you do exhibitions, but for some reason they don’t purchase something then and there. They take your card and have a wee think about it. Some come back others do not, but it’s all part of the process of getting your work out there and meeting new potential clients.

Back in August, I met new customers at one of my shows in Edinburgh. They were really interested in my unusual stone set pieces and particularly liked my dendritic quartz ring on my old business card. Unfortunately for them the piece had sold but I showed them other stones that could be made into something similar.

I spent a lot of time with the clients discussing what could be made. She really liked one of my larger dendritic quartz stones and suggested getting it made into a ring. However she wanted to go away and think about it.

Now sometimes when dealing with people, they go away and don’t come back. But 4 months later, her partner got back in touch asking if that stone was still available. To his surprise it was and we know that it was meant for his partner. Originally his partner wanted a ring made from the stone but due to my expertise, I suggested that as the stone was so large. This was me, who loves making large statement rings saying a stone was too big! But I as the designer though it would work better as a necklace, the client agreed.

Here are the original designs

He decided the simpler of the two designs would be more suitable (second sketch). Here is the finished piece in silver with Dendritic Quartz stone and oxidised detail.

Back of the piece with steel pin and tubing for chain to go through. Can be worn as a brooch or pendant.

Front on chain, shows how it would look as a necklace.

So if you have seen my work at a show ages ago and would like something made into a nice piece of jewellery get in touch.

Continue reading »]]> Most of the pieces that I get asked to make for clients are rings and I really enjoy taking on these challenges.

Recently I got contacted by a client to make a bespoke ring in her own design. We all have the piece or pieces of jewellery that we love to wear all the time. Whether it is a non expensive costume piece or that favourite pair of diamond earrings, jewellery makes us feel good about ourselves and is a great addition to finish off that fabulous outfit.

Jewellery also has that sentimental value which is unique to each individual’s experiences, so it is awful when you loose that special piece or it becomes broken over time. In this case my client had purchased a chunky costume jewellery ring made from base metals which had been rhodium plated. As she had had it for a number of years it had begun to discolour.

She had seen my jewellery at a craft fair and liked my work. She loved her chunky wrap around ring so much and had worn it many times but the plating had started to come off showing the copper underneath. So she decided that she wanted it to be made in silver. I already has a smaller, less chunky version of the ring which prompted her to think about her original ring.

my helix ring

the client’s original ring

finished piece in silver

So if you have lost your favourite piece of jewellery and would like something similar made,

or if it has become worn or broken,

or if you have a costume piece which is no longer wearable and you would like the “real thing” made in precious metals get in touch.

Continue reading »]]> Over the past few months I’ve been working on bespoke commissions for clients weddings.

A client wanted a wedding band to fit with her princes cut diamond and platinum engagement ring. She had been to a few high street jewellers but they didn’t have anything to fit as the setting wouldn’t allow a ring to fit under it. And none of their rings complemented her engagement ring. So the only option was to get a bespoke wedding band made which most chain, high street jewellers don’t do.

I had made a bespoke fitted band for a previous client who had passed my details onto this new customer, so my new client knew it was possible.

Originally the new client wanted a thin band but as her diamond was quite large the setting protruded over the shank right down to the bottom of the ring. This meant that the wedding ring had to be 3mm wide to allow for the cutting out of the shape to slide into the setting.

Platinum fitted wedding band

As well as engagement and wedding rings I make a selection of pearl and silver jewellery which is suitable for bridal wear. A client liked my designs and asked me to make a pair of Silver and Pearl chain earrings similar to a set which I already make but with different chain. Here is what I made.

Another client wanted something really simple and elegant for her daughter to wear who was getting married. As the dress is the main statement sometimes you don’t want to over do it with the jewellery so I made a pair of pearls studs and single pearl pendant with cluster twist hair piece.

So remember to search previous posts on my blog to see previous commissions I have had made. And if you have bought some bespoke jewellery, be sure to pass on the details to any friends who are looking to buy pieces!

Continue reading »]]> A client contacted me who had some old gold rings that she never wore and she also had a troy ounce gold ingot that was kept in her jewellery box. She wanted two rings made from the gold that fitted with her current engagement ring, one as a wedding band and one as an eternity ring.

Normally when I make commissions or other jewellery I buy in the materials and make the pieces from these. So this was a new challenge as I had not melted down gold before, never alone seen a real gold ingot so this was really exciting!

Clients gold rings and ingot

The rings themselves were a combination of 9ct and 18ct and the ingot was 999. As I had never worked with 999 before I wanted to use the ingot to make these rings and to get it hallmarked at the highest standard rather than mixing the golds together. The diamonds from the rings were also to be used and set into the new rings.

I decided to make silver sample rings before going ahead and making them in the gold, the ring in the centre is the clients own ring. I made one v shaped and the other curving round the engagement ring to create a different look. In the end we thought that the V shaped rings either side would be best. One of the rings would be thicker to fit the 3 larger diamonds and the other ring was to be thinner with the two tiny diamonds and the 2mm diamond taken out of my clients old rings and reused.

Silver sample rings with clients engagement ring

The process of melting the ingot proved to be difficult and time consuming, but was a great learning curve. I purchased a skillet to melt the gold into and cut the ingot into strips and laid them into the skillet. Unfortunately the skillet obtained most of the heat and my blowtorch couldn’t make the gold melt. So I tried laying the gold strips onto my honeycomb blocks and melted the strips together which worked!

Then by using my drawbench I drew the gold down into square wire and used my rolling mill to flatten the metal.

999 carat gold is such a soft metal to work with. It files, sands and forms very easily so it was very nice to work with but you have to be very gentle with it. The next stage was to create the V shape, form the ring and solder.

Ingot made into gold ring

I did this process twice but made one of the rings thinner than the other as the smaller diamonds were to be set into this ring. When wearing all rings together it would have been really chunky if both rings were the same thickness so I thought it would be best to make one thinner and the diamonds wouldn’t be lost with a thinner shank.

Next I smoothed the  edges by filing and sanding with soft grade files and paper. Then soldered the 18ct white gold tubing onto the rings, cleaned, polished and then finally set the stones.

Clients engagement ring in centre with the two new rings made from the ingot either side.

It was a great experience making these rings and I learned a lot from it. So if you have any gold jewellery that you no longer wear which is sentimental to you. Instead of leaving it in your jewellery box come to me to get it made into something that you can enjoy wearing again.

Continue reading »]]> A client recently contacted me to make an engagement ring for his soon to be fiance (now fiance). His partner is an architect so it seemed quite apt that he wanted to commission me as my work is inspired by architecture. He liked the simplicity of my designs and knew his partner would too.

He spent some time deciding which design would be perfect for her and knew he wanted a baguette or princess cut diamond. For the final design chose this 18ct white gold with 4mm princess cut diamond with satin finish.

Another client wanted a platinum wedding band to fit her engagement ring. Her ring had an unusual shaped setting but I managed to make the platinum band fit.

If you would like to commission some jewellery then don’t hesitate to contact me.

Continue reading »]]> I was recently commissioned to make an unusual chain for a male client. He didn’t wear much jewellery but wanted one of my pieces to wear on special occasions.

He liked my work and wanted something simple and not too blingy or flashy. The design was basically left up to me and I didn’t have much to go with but he wanted it made in silver. I asked him what type of things he liked but he just said I like your work so have some fun, I’ll leave it up to you.

So I decided to make a simpler, less chunky version of my labyrinth neck-piece. Here is what I produced, it’s silver with oxidised detail, approximately 20″ in length.

So sometimes you may not have any ideas of your own but want something unusual made. I knew the client liked my work but he never gave me any ideas of what he wanted so I was worried that he wasn’t going to like it. Thankfully he did!  It’s a bit risky working like this but as the client wasn’t giving anything away it was totally left up to me.

If you would like an unusual piece of jewellery made, for men or women, I can design something in my style especially for you.

Continue reading »]]> I was recently contacted by a new client to commission a special ring for his girlfriend. He came across my website after searching for engagement rings.

The customer had a really unusual subtle pale pink morganite heart shaped stone and wanted it made into a ring. He really liked the simplicity and elegance of my engagement ring designs and wanted me to set the stone into one of my own designs. He chose a few designs which his partner would like and we discussed the design via phone and email. He then arranged to meet me at my stall in The Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh where I could take the stone and receive deposit. When making commissions I always take at least 50% up front to allow me to begin with the piece and to secure the deal.

Here is the design sketches, we decided on the straight heart

The result was this chunky but elegant silver and morganite ring.

If you have a stone which you would like set in a piece of contemporary jewellery then please get in touch to discuss possible commissions. Most orders take about 4 weeks but sometimes if you have a tight schedule it’s possible to have pieces made sooner. So get in touch to find out more.

Continue reading »]]> A few months back a client approached me asking about commissions. Their son had a special birthday coming up and being a keen musician and huge Jimi Hendrix fan she thought a guitar pendant might make a great gift.

The original sketch

After doing some research into different types of guitars to get an idea of what different details make up a guitar. I was able to come up with a stylised guitar shape. I drew some sketches and the customer decided that she preferred the lower sketch.

Finished guitar pendant

After a few days of hard work in the studio this is the pendant I made. This was individually hand pierced out from silver sheet. Each individual detail was cut out by hand and then added to the main guitar piece. I am very pleased with how it turned out, looking very guitary. The final piece was about 4.5cm long and I am really pleased with the level of detail I got onto it.

I really enjoyed making this piece, it was a lot of fun.

The client was delighted with the result as was her son.

If you have any ideas for commissions then please remember I do both variations of my existing ranges and implementation of your own ideas too!

Continue reading »]]> Please note, all figures given in this article are only an example in real life they will vary a lot.

You may have seen a bombardment of adverts on Television and in newspapers for companies buying gold. They may even be in your local shopping centre on a stall or small shop front.

The question is – is this a good deal?

A recent investigations by Which? was covered by London College of Communication, the Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail among others concluded that no – it is not.

How do they work?

Well that silver or gold ring you are wearing goes through a series of people before it reaches you, all of whom add a bit of mark up along the way so they make money.

1. The mine where the ore comes from sell it to…
2. A refinery where the ore is smelted to become silver or gold and it is sold to..
3. Bullion dealer who sells it on to…
4. Jeweller who makes it into a ring which is…
5. Put in a shop where it is bought by a…
6. Customer who wears it.

To use crude figures the mine gets £10 of silver and sells it to a refinery for £20 who smelt it and turn into ingots to be sold to a bullion dealer for £40. The bullion dealer can then turn this into sheet or wire silver and sells it to a jeweller like me for £80. I then spend some time making it into a piece of jewellery I need to sell for at least £160 to not lose money. I go to a craft fair and sell it for £200 or put in a gallery where it may be £300.

The customer buys it

A customer really likes that silver ring and hands over the £200 to me and this covers the cost of the stall, travel and I have a wee bit left over for rent, materials for new pieces etc.

The customer is then needing money or doesn’t like the ring any more (you’ll need to pretend it was someone else’s work in this case as it makes no sense for it to to be mine!). She sees an advert on the TV for Leprachaun Gold Exchange or something. Where do they fit in the chain?

They are down at position 2 or 3. So they could buy the silver in that ring for £20-£40.

Customer bought the ring for £200 – what do you think they get offered for it? Probably £10-£30.

What other factors affect this?

Value

Well most of the people using these companies are doing it with old jewellery. You get offered £20 for a piece of jewellery that you remember paying £2 for or even £2 3s for! This seems like a sweet deal – it’s more than you paid for it. Except you have forgotten about inflation and that piece would cost £200 to buy new today.

Quality of the piece

The vast majority of jewellery sent to these places will be smelted down but it is possible it is a rare early piece by a famous designer or really high quality so it will be re-sold. If it has some nice stones these will be taken out and re-sold too.

What are the alternatives?

Well, a lot of people using these services probably do so as they need cash right now. For others who simply have loads of jewellery they don’t wear any more you can have it remade. I recently posted about a necklace of beads I refashioned into a new contemporary piece.

The same can be done for silver or gold jewellery!

Say you wanted a new ring that would normally cost £200. Remember when I explained my costs earlier? I buy the silver for £80, do lots of work and re-sell for £200.

Well what makes up that figure?

• Materials £80
• Time (labour) and costs (contribution towards studio rent, tools, hallmarking, running a website etc) £80
• Profit £40

In certain circumstances I can make a piece using your materials reducing the cost by a lot of that first amount.

Examples of commissions I have done in this way include:

• Reworking beads into a new piece
• Rollering down old gold rings into a pendant using the diamonds from the rings in the design
• Make a pendant to add someones beautiful 1 carat diamond to.

In each case the client managed to reduce the price of the piece by providing some or all of the materials needed.

The customer benefits by

• Reducing the cost of the piece.
• Re-using jewellery which may have sentimental value
• Feeling an even greater part of the design process.

I benefit by:

• Minimising the material outlay costs on the small chance a customer does not follow through wanting the piece.
• Reducing my outgoings before I get the final payment from the customer.
• Not having to spend time sourcing materials.

So next time you rummage through your jewellery box and find broken chains, odd earrings and old rings think jeweller not pawn-broker!

Continue reading »]]> I enjoy taking on commissions as it allows me to have a more personal relationship with the client. it also allows me the chance to find out more about them and learning what style of jewellery they enjoy wearing. This allows me to make that special bespoke piece for each individual client.

Revamping Old Jewellery

I have recently taken on a commission for a client who had her own set of chunky beads and she wanted me to revamp them in my own style by adding a bit of Genna Design glamour!

At that point I had just begun making some limited edition beaded necklaces with handmade silver pendants and catches. Designed around the style of beads this makes each necklace unique and incorporating silver makes them more precious and individual.

I was wearing my first necklace in this style and she totally loved it.

Remembering she had those old chunky beads lying in her jewellery box, she wanted me to work my magic on them.

I first began designing components which would fit in neatly with the shape of the beads then e-mailed my client designs. We both agreed straight away on our favourite. Then I got started on the silver component and catch. I added some button shape coral beads which I had in my box of goodies (I have built up quite a collection of stones and beads over the years which is an inevitable part of being a jeweller). I assembled the necklace and here’s the finished piece.

So if you like what you see and you have your own beads which you no longer wear, contact me and I can revamp them into something special.

Continue reading »]]> A client really liked my labyrinth style bracelet and wanted one made for her son. She wanted a long chunky main component in the centre and thicker wire links. Here’s what I came up with

This is silver with oxidised detail. I love the colour variations that sometimes occur when oxidising silver.

It is really effective on this piece.