Daily Wire Tip Dec. 10: Silver Colored vs. Genuine Silver Wire Pieces
Daily Wire Jewelry Making Tip for
December 10, 2010
Question:
I understand the difference between sterling and fine silver wire, and the much less expensive non-tarnish silver-colored copper wire. My question is: Unless I intend to solder the wire, would there be any other reason not to use the less expensive wire for wrapped loops, etc. in a wire-wrapped piece?
It just seems to me that as I would save money in supplies, that savings could be passed on to the customer, as well as the benefit of the non-tarnishing wire. But would that make my jewelry any less desirable on some other level?
-Donna in White Lake, Michigan
Answer:
Actually Donna, there are many designs and stones that look great using alternative wires! Many of our Wire-Sculpture Faculty use alternative metals and have no challenges selling items created with them.
Just be sure to either label or tell the customer what the item is made with so you have no questions after the sale.
Answer contributed by Dale “Cougar” Armstrong
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I was recently chatting with a wire-artist whose work I greatly admire, and she told me that she only uses SS and GF wire if the customer special orders it. She says that craft wire makes her work both beautiful and affordable.
That answer totally suprised me, as well as the comment. Whenever I use silver color, I always use sterling silver, and yes tanish is a problem. I will really re-evalute my opinion in the future when chosing a silver color wire. It will certainly make my jewelry more affordable.
Ruth, unfortunately today’s economy demands that we find alternatives to be able to stay alive : ) A lot of the choice would depend on what you were making. For example, I don’t think setting a natural tourmaline in a plated or enameled wire would be appropriate, as in my world, high end stones demand high end wire. The choice of what to use and when will depend on the artist/creator, their customer base, and the ‘look’ or style they are designing.
Personally, I only use Argentium, 14kgf (yellow and rose) and when requested 14k and 18k solid (prepaid orders only.)
With prices the way they are, craft wire is a great alternative. Unless they are going to be extremely abrasive with their jewelry craft wire is just as beautiful and less tarnish. It will still have that silver shine, if its silver plated. So much of my practice wrapping turns out well so I sell it. I only use gold filled or even gold plated by special order, silver sells so much better here.
There are only two differences that I can see. One depends on the nature of wire you are using, and the other is about materials cost and sale value.
What I mean by nature is this: coated, plated, and/or pre-finished wire can be tricker to work with than sterling or other pure wires simply because the surface is more forgiving with uniform metal wires.
You can polish sterling if it gets scratched, and unless you actually change the shape of the wire, no one will notice. But you can’t do too much with a scratched piece of plated wire other than throw it away.
In the second instance, sterling vs. say, German silver (not actually silver but a nickel alloy) the latter you would have to charge less for your work because of the nature of the material. Some designs you simply cannot do in anything but sterling or other precious metal (maybe copper in this economy) because you couldn’t charge enough to compensate for your time.
On the other hand, in this economy, it would be handy to be able to charge less for some of your pieces. It really depends on how much work you put into it, and what the perceived value of your work is, rather than the actual value of the work done.
This is a complex subject, and there are more experienced people who could explain it better than I. I hear they sell DVDs that go in detail about this subject.
One way I figure perceived value is by haggling with friends over what they’d pay for a piece. This works because I have friends who have done retail before, so they don’t try to lowball me because they want to get a “friendship discount”.
(It’s not that I don’t give them from time to time, but… it’s helpful to know people who have an appreciation that a job is what it is and they wouldn’t do their work for me for practically nothing on demand.)
As for findings, I find it difficult to find some that aren’t plated for specific projects, like, say, lanyards. I use sterling for the work-horse areas (jumprings, bails and the like) and beads where wear is expected, because plate comes off easily under wear. However, the lanyard clip I want isn’t really available in sterling. So… I use plated clips and just make sure that my customers know that. If they really want sterling, I make it clear they can request that in a different type of clip.
This is because those sterling clips are VERY expensive, and I want people to know that it adds significantly to the price. But I also compensate by explaining that I will replace the clip for free when it starts flaking or fails. This compensates somewhat for the fact that my baseline is a plated item.
If you do use mixed metals in your designs, it really helps to be up-front about what materials you are using with your customers. That way, if one of your plated items gets wear with time, they might start wondering if the whole piece is plated… and start wondering about your honesty, the price, and so on.
Furthermore, magnets sticking to parts of your jewelry might also clue someone in to a difference of material that might come off to the uninitiated as dishonest.
All of these lead to public relations problems that can be hard to fix.
And anyway, you really want to say what everything is, because of allergy, jewelry care, and expected longevity of your piece.
V, I always appreciate your input! You gave some nice solutions for mixing metals – thanks!
We teach our classes using only non-tarnish silver plated, copper or colored round wire.(GASP – shock – not teaching with square wire – what heresy! ) It keeps the cost of the class affordable and takes some of the fear factor – the “I’m afraid of messing up REAL silver and REAL gold” – out of the class so the students can have fun.
One of my good customers only uses plated and colored wire for his wrapped pieces. Using the less expensive wire allows him to sell more pieces at affordable prices. He’s happy and so are his customers.
Deb – (too funny) depending on the design, round wire is wonderful! WS Faculty member Albina Manning uses mostly round wire in her designs too!
Before knowing how to make jewelries, I used to shop at department stores. Many times, I’ve seen beautiful pieces displayed behind the glass and when asked, I found that they were made with non-tarnished materials. But the design is so beautifully made, the price tag was high enough to keep it behind the glass.
As Katherine mentioned, I too sell jewelries made with inexpensive wires unless customers requrest SS or GF. Because of my own and constantly evolving designs, jewelries sell quite well.
If you let your customers think that they’re buying one of a kind piece of jewelry, they will buy it for your design and will pay for your labor. I have not make 2 pieces exactly the same.
Thanks for sharing Natalie!
I actually use quite a bit of copper, brass, GF, SS and Bronze. I love mixing the different metals as each has its own strong points. I have no problem selling product in the different metals and always label them carefully.
For most of us, the beauty of working in argentium sterling, sterling and gold-filled wire is what drew us to wire artistry in the first place. Boy, none of us could have foreseen what the metal markets would do to our craft. We are all in sticker shock over these increases.
I agree with Deb in her statement of taking the “fear factor” off new students by teaching them in an affordable material. As they progress and their skills improve when they do make the switch, they will be really surprised that they can work in the other metals comfortably.
I work a lot in both square and round copper wire and I personally love the look of copper. At first, it was a material I used to work out designs in before repeating again in what I called “the good stuff”. Well, copper is now the “good stuff” as well, as customers love the look just as much as s/s or gf.
You have to decide yourself what appeals to you. If you are more concerned with chasing the dollar as opposed to being creative and designing, you work will pay the price and you won’t make good sales or have repeat customers
You can save money by shopping wisely and price your work accordingly. You don’t want to be tagged as that gal that has a rep for making cheaply priced jewelry. You want to be known as that creative gal that takes advantage of her materials and lets her creativity flow no matter what the metal she is using. Her work is expressive or intricate and very appealing.
Nice Mary – “You want to be known as that creative gal that takes advantage of her materials and lets her creativity flow no matter what the metal she is using. Her work is expressive or intricate and very appealing.”
Many of my customers are teens. They love the silver wrapped stones, and using craft wires makes it very affordable for them. Their mothers often return to buy my designs, either for gifts or themselves. Most of the time they request precious metals. They seem to understand the cost increase for these pieces, and buy what they like the ‘looks of’ despite the cost. As others have mentioned, I always feel it’s imperative to be upfront with what metal is used in each of my pieces.
I sure appreciate all the different comments and ideas!