How's It Made?

[mishele]

Jewelers have calloused fingers because the JOB is hard on his hands. The only way he can fix the problem is to stop creating jewelry.

It's ridiculous that you're sitting here debating with Bitter about his hands, when he clearly doesn't give a sh*t about what they look like.

Let it go already... he's not hurting himself (aside from having formed a few callouses, and last time I checked that's not fatal...) or anyone else.




Callouses happen.

For everyone else there are boring desk jobs. :lmao:

I work with my hands as well. What do you think I do for a living?

I just take care of my skin properly and don't have calluses.

I would love to see your hands!!! Please post them up!!! My night would be complete!!! :hug::

 

[Kerbouchard]

While the hand thing has obviously been blown way out of proportion, I would say that for your final version that you plan on using for your website, I would pay more attention to your nails and cleanliness. Heck, wearing a pair of white gloves wouldn't be a bad touch.

I would think you would want your clients to see how precise, exact, and professional you are...not necessarily the dirt beneath your fingernails.

 

[Josh66]

LOL @ everyone talking about his hands...

Personally, I think it's kind of cool that from 'such rough' hands comes such a beautiful piece of jewelry.



My hands look pretty rough too, because, you know - I work and stuff.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

My ****ing hands and nails get dirty while I ****ing work braniacs.

Jesus ****ing Christ get the **** over it already!

It's really neat that everyone has all the ****ing answers for me.

Gloves.

 

[D-B-J]

On the "bath time" slide, it should be "impeccably clean" and not "impeccably cleaning."
I thought that was really informative and interesting though. Great job and great work!

Regards,
Jake

 

[usayit]

AWESOME.....

simply awesome.


In the world filled with automated cheaply made crap with more concern with output rather than design or craftsmanship, seeing your series is a breath of fresh air.






... yes I'm jealous... Not particularly crafty.. handy.. yes.. but not crafty.

 

[e.rose]

While the hand thing has obviously been blown way out of proportion, I would say that for your final version that you plan on using for your website, I would pay more attention to your nails and cleanliness. Heck, wearing a pair of white gloves wouldn't be a bad touch.

I would think you would want your clients to see how precise, exact, and professional you are...not necessarily the dirt beneath your fingernails.

So this post inspired me I went on my married life forum, and the forum I used to be a part of while planning my wedding and asked the girls which they buy their rings based on... How much they loved the ring... or the condition of the jeweler's hands....

I think those comments were rude and to be honest i couldn't give two ****s what someones hands looks like. To me it shows how much he works and i respect that. I think the photos look amazing.
To be honest.... I actually thought it gave some OOMF to the photo

THAT IS RIDICULUS ... MY FH hands are so dry/cracking.... IT looks like he has an 80 year olds hands...and hes only 23.... PEOPLE are so dumb... I think hands like that mean hes a hard worker...AND yes I would never think "were my jewlers hands cracked when he made this"

That's crazy. I never looked at hands when buying my and FH rings.

To be honest, I think the condition of his hands is kinda endearing. (But I'm weird like that.) I see it as a sign of his commitment and dedication to his craft. Those cracked and calloused hands tell the story of a man who truly loves his work. Beautiful photography, too.

Grace wrote:

To be honest, I think the condition of his hands is kinda endearing. (But I'm weird like that.) I see it as a sign of his commitment and dedication to his craft. Those cracked and calloused hands tell the story of a man who truly loves his work. Beautiful photography, too.​

^ this 110%.

Both my FH and I worked in the jewelry industry. That job isn't easy and is so hard on the hands. So I see why his hands are like that. You're using chemicals and other things that will wear on your hands. For someone to make comments like they did is crazy.

um. seriously? what a stupid argument! i'm going to buy a ring based on what the ring looks like, the clarity, carat, price etc.

I don't care what the jeweller's hands look like...

I imagine his hands get dirty during the process? It's not like he hasn't taken a bath in a month or something, I'm assuming. I expect for people in trades like that to have dirty, calloused hands. In fact I think his hands looking that way makes the photo look more real and I would find a picture of someone making jewelry with perfect hands to look kinda fake.

He's a jeweler. Not a hand model. Someone needs to get over it.

lol. That is a pretty silly argument.

For me, the jewelry is more important than the jeweler's hands. I'm not buying the man's hands - I'm buying the product. lolThat being said, I do feel the professional side of the business would be to take care of your hands. First of all, it is professional looking in a business of selling jewelry - it looks clean. I wouldn't want Rambo grabbing the product with scabbed blood knuckles and dirt, grabbing my hand, and fitting the ring on it. Kind of a buzzkill. lol​

However, I think the way the photo was edited made his cracked fingers and what not more noticeable. It was actually the first thing I saw before the ring. From an artistic perspective, I could see that such a process of making a ring can be beautiful. But from an advertisement perspective, I would recommend softening those cracks so that the eyes go directly to the ring itself. It makes it an eye-sore from a marketing perspective and the attention is off the ring itself. But if it is supposed to be artistic, let the man show the lines of deliberate creation of something so beautiful - such as the ring. I hope that makes sense lol.

Someone must be in bad mood, and decided to take it out on this poor guy. Really? Who would base a purchase based on his hands? Plus- I am sure he watches his hands after he is done working.

It is kind of like basing a plant purchase based on dirt underneath someones finger nails and not the flowers/plant. IDK- Maybe that is a bad comparison, but the whole fight is ridiculous.​

To be honest, I think the condition of his hands is kinda endearing. (But I'm weird like that.) I see it as a sign of his commitment and dedication to his craft. Those cracked and calloused hands tell the story of a man who truly loves his work. Beautiful photography, too.

This

Honestly some people are just nuts.......I couldn't care less what his hands look like it sure does show how much work they do, and whoever this rude person was should have kept their comments to themselves

Ouch Ouch Ouch his hands look painful! That being said well I think he is right the job he does doesn't enable for nice hands. Its not like he is modeling the rings. If I were a jewelry sales person I would say yes to having nice hands but making them, heck no. I think you would be hard pressed to find tradesmen with perfect hands. My poor brother in law works with RV's and his hands are horrible it is kind of gross to look at since he can never fully get the oil off but I know he can't help it. It comes with the job.

So Bitter... I guess you're not gonna go out of business any time soon based on your cracked hands.

All but one, could give a sh*t what your hands look like... and even SHE would still buy from you.

 

[Destin]

Wow. INCREDIBLE! I would love to get into doing something like that! Do you sell your rings, or is it just a hobby?

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

Omg, e.rose!The one chicks absolutely right though. Some of he pictures missed focus to my fingers instead of the subject. Sharpening doesnt help matters there.Tell her I said that! Also, I rarely put rings on peoples fingers. I can't tell how well they fit on you, you can. People can judge me for whatever reason. 8 earrings? Foot long beard? That I wear shorts 365! It's also been my experience, across 22+ years that none of this matters. None of it.

My business is already to the point that, if someone has trust issues, I can, and have, politely tell them that it is important for them to find someone they trust, and turn the job down. I regulary turn away **** work that is not worth my time. It's a fantastic place to be in business. To be so busy that you can be selective of the work you take in, instead of doing anything for a buck out of necessity.

Tell the other responder that my fingers do not hurt, are not sore, and are still touch sensitive. Although I have a much higher tolerance for heat than the average Joe.


Thanks Jake for typo alerts! It was late when I did it, and it's laughable the number of errors spotted. Lol

Thanks usayit! The cheap mass produced stuff is actually how I got my nick name, Bitter Jeweler. I hate garbage jewelry with a passion. I hate repairing it, and pretending it is precious. Keep in mind there is some very well made mass produced jewelry too. A lot of the cheap stuff is knocked off the big designers, so people with little money can have the same style jewelry, but it just won't last, or is thrown together poorly.

 

[Josh66]

A lot of the cheap stuff is knocked off the big designers, so people with little money can have the same style jewelry, but it just won't last, or is thrown together poorly.

Sounds like another (or two or three...) industry...

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

True, Josh.What's funnier, the owners of the quarter carat engagement rings are less apt to trust you with it, than the owners of the 4carat $60K diamond.

 

[Josh66]

I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that the customer shopping for the $60k ring is much more likely to buy something than the customer shopping for the $600 ring...

Again - it sounds very familiar for some reason.


It's funny how as different as everything may seem, it's all kind of the same...

edit
Business is business, I guess.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

Yup. My better half is a picture framer, that deals with everything from kids refrigerator drawings, to ORIGINAL Warhols. Same deal. The Warhol owners are easier to work with.

 

[UUilliam]

I think the main reason is more likely the ones who have the more expensive product, can (usually) afford it, therefore are not too worried whereas the people with the cheap product have received it as a gift or have saved up for a while to get it so it feels more precious to them and harder to replace if anything happens.

Great presentation.
Very insightful!
Made me want to buy a ring haha, and I hate jewelry (wearing it anyway...) and I can't afford it either

 

[e.rose]

Yup. My better half is a picture framer, that deals with everything from kids refrigerator drawings, to ORIGINAL Warhols. Same deal. The Warhol owners are easier to work with.

Your "better half" is a picture framer... and you... are a photographer? How poetic! :heart: I bet you get a killer discount!