Help me evaluate a benchman, please

[Gayletmom]

I have several custom jewelry projects in mind, thanks to Pricescope! I have recently met a custom jeweler (is benchman the right term?) who did some work for a friend and I really like him. He does mostly custom work and while I will be working with our PS vendors on a couple of things I can see the advantage of working with someone close to home on others. Plus, I like to "buy local" whenever possible.

My question is this: what should I look for to judge the quality of his work and craftsmanship? In a practical sense, are there some specific things I want to look for so that I know he''s good? I hear accolades about Leo''s prongs and so and so''s pave-how do I know if those are well done? I think that I am pretty good at judging that he is good at the customer service and customer relations stuff but I don''t know much about the process of making jewelry. I am considering a pendant that includes some pave work and hammered yellow gold. Maybe also some platinum and diamond huggie type earrings. Are there some specific technical things that would help me to judge his abilities?

What do you guys think? I would like to train my eye and any tips would be greatly appreciated.

 

[denverappraiser]

The first thing to do is to ask him. No, really. Tell him to show you some work that he’s done that he’s especially proud of and to point out the areas that he counts as especially interesting. Listen to what he tells you. Excellent craftsmen (and women) tend to take great pride in their work and will love this question and marginal ones won’t even understand why you’re asking. There’s a decent chance that most of the work in the showcases were actually made by other people so you can’t really tell much surreptitiously other than a bit about how good they are at choosing suppliers. Don’t worry much about the design unless that’s really the issue because it was probably made for another client and even if you don’t like it, it may be EXACTLY what the customer ordered. What you’re looking at is the craftsmanship.

When he shows you a piece, look at it carefully and with magnification. Ask questions. Again, most top shelf craftsmen LOVE to have this conversation. Check out the polish, especially in the difficult to polish places like underneath the stones or inside of hollowed out places. Check out to see if the stones are level and tight. If the design suggests that things should be symmetrical, are they? Are the channel walls straight, prong tips matching, etc.? Look to see if light is passing between the stone and the prong tips when you hold it up to the light. By the way, try to keep fingerprints and such off of it. Some may even ask you to wear gloves while you handle the piece(I would take this as a good sign by the way). There’s a decent chance this is made for someone else and you should be as respectful of their treasures as you would like them to be of yours.

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ICGA(AGS) NAJA
Professional Appraisals in Denver

 

[Karl_K]

ditto what Neil said.
I also like to ask about their experience.
Don't be blunt about it but just drop it into a conversation.

 

[D&T]

Date: 10/15/2009 4:50:06 PM
Author: Karl_K
ditto what Neil said.
I also like to ask about their experience.
Don''t be blunt about it but just drop it into a conversation.

oooh I must have missed this part....

I''ve been known to ask jeweler how long they''ve been in the business for

bluntly too..

 

[Karl_K]

Date: 10/15/2009 4:53:54 PM
Author: D&T

Date: 10/15/2009 4:50:06 PM

Author: Karl_K

ditto what Neil said.

I also like to ask about their experience.

Don''t be blunt about it but just drop it into a conversation.

oooh I must have missed this part....


I''ve been known to ask jeweler how long they''ve been in the business for

bluntly too..

That is a different question than asking a benchman what his experience is.
For example my local guy worked/trained in Japan for 6 years.
Most benchman are artists and it takes a slightly different approach.

 

[Gayletmom]

Thank you very much, Neil. That is such good information. I really like the idea of talking to him about his work. When I was in his shop, we started chatting a bit and had a great rapport. He was impressed with my little bit of knowledge and wanted to hear all about PS. I think it will be fun to talk to him about his craftsmanship.

 

[Gayletmom]

Storm, you are right that a benchman is an artist and I love talking to artists about their work! We should have a lot to discuss and even I can probably manage a subtle inquiry about his experience.

Many thanks.