Seeking you guys' advice

[Debbie K]

I have been working on a piece recently; a carving of Australian vertical opal which I originally visualized as being a pendant/brooch. It is large; currently at about 90 cts. This is my question: I have four more pieces of similar opal and am thinking about combining all of them for a total of about 350 cts of opal, set in 18kt gold with moonstones, yellow and green sapphires, possibly enameling some of the gold. Do you guys think that it would be better to do singular pieces or one truly over-the-top outrageous one? This will be a competition piece, but there's always a view to the intrinsic saleabilty of a piece, and to do something like this would probably put the cost in the stratosphere. I also considered making them independent pieces that could all be strung on a single chain, but that would make it subject to having pieces being lost/misplaced or damaged. What do you guys think?

Debbie K

 

[Bron357]

I would do a necklace over a brooch, far more sale-able.
Given it’s a competition piece, I’d say ”go big or go home”.
Could two of the other pieces match enough to create a pair of earrings? If yes, is there a way of incorporating the “earring pair” into the necklace design giving the option of wearing them as one big necklace piece or detached as earrings and a necklace.
If there’s a 3rd piece that could work as a ring (think the “ring- dant” style) that would give you a very saleable piece given it’s various forms.
The Asian market adores quality pieces and have very deep pockets.

 

[Debbie K]

I was thinking of making the original piece a pendant with a brooch option, but with all 5 together, it would be a necklace.

You've given me something to think about, re: the two smaller pieces being potential earrings; Thank you! I think I'll avoid the ring option, opals being what they are and intrinsically fragile.

I'm tending towards the "Go big or or go home" option, too. Sometimes the sum of the whole can be greater than the parts.

Debbie K

 

[tyty333]

I say go small . Folks around here dont tend to wear big pendants or brooches. Not sure what people wear in Australia though.

 

[OoohShiny]

I feel a lot will depend on if you need to release the funds tied up in the work quickly or not - a large piece may take longer to sell but achieve a higher price.

 

[Debbie K]

All the opals are large; and by that I mean that the two largest ones are approximately 1.25" x 2.25" or about 35mm x 60mm; the smallest is 1.25" x 1.25" or about 35mm x 35mm. Anything I make out of them will be big; if I combine them all it'll be more like a collar than a traditional necklace. I took a look at the smaller ones and they're way too big for earrings. I think the best option might be to make them independent "pendants" that could be strung together on a heavy chain.

I've had these stones for years so I can stand to hold them a while longer. It took a while to get so many that were similar. It'll take a lot of gold to make it, though, and that does bother me. But I think it could be really spectacular to use them all; whether or not anyone would ever buy it or wear it is another question. I do more "art" pieces than real jewelry, so sometimes get carried away by the aesthetics instead of the practical side of things.

Thank you guys for your input. I really appreciate it. You guys are people who actually buy, wear and love jewelry and your opinion is truly valued.

 

[bludiva]

I think a collar as a competition piece would be fabulous and making it multipurpose (pieces that can be worn as a pendant or earrings etc) would enhance saleability later. I know you can't show it to us but I'm so curious to see it!

 

[Debbie K]

When (and if! Opals have a bad habit of cracking and/or breaking) it gets made and after it goes to competition, I'll post something with a link for it to be viewed if folks are interested.