Timely Topics….

The meaning of jewelry…
​

I’ve heard it said that men buy jewelry for three reasons only…love, lust or guilt.  About flowers, that I might believe, but in my almost 40 years of working with people to design and make custom jewelry, I think that the shine and polish of jewelry reflects more of life than the low-hanging fruit of love, lust and guilt.  I have written about popular culture and jewelry, reflected in the recently viral nature with which the book and movie, The Hunger Games, accelerated to widespread fame.  And now, soon, The Hobbit, due for release in December of this year, will reignite popular imagination with the precioussssnesssssss of jewelry.  I’m looking forward to this movie featuring (in no particular order) Ian McKellen, Cate Blanchette, Orland Bloom, Elijah Wood, Andy Serkis and Martin Freeman, among others.
And speaking of December.  It isn’t commercialism…
…it’s reality for a custom jewelry design business.
I’m the sort of person that pretty much rails against any signs of end-o-year holiday much before the Thanksgiving holiday we have here in the USA.  But the truth is, if you have any remote thoughts of getting custom jewelry work done (by Gary Dawson Designs, of course) for the end of the year, it isn’t too early to start planning.  Right now, there’s plenty of time, but time flies and we are all on that flight.  My “average” turnover for most jobs is currently 6-8 weeks.  Some go longer…sourcing difficult materials, involved designs, and budgetary (client payment plan) issues all impact the timeliness of production.  And some go much shorter…creating an efficient production schedule means that sometimes I can complete a more simple project or two while I’m waiting on another client’s response or materials.  I try to work on a FIFO schedule, that is, First In First Out, or, trying to produce jobs in the order in which they came.  But that can vary a fair amount depending on the nature of the project as mentioned above.

---

One thing is always certain however, and that is that I will get busier toward the gifting season.  In fact, there is usually a point where I will have to cut off accepting end of the year deadlines.   So happy holidays, my friends!  I’d love to work with you to create the best gift ever!

---