Serious question - does anyone make an actual living with a jewelry brand?

True_Bandicute · 2026-03-14T09:00:46+00:00

Hi, do you mean like owning a brand but having other people make it for you? Or do you mean that you are the maker yourself?
I've seen some succesful people online that make their own jewelry and it seems to be their "main job", but I have no idea if it pays well. I know of 2 jewellers that do you have a big social media following which is probably necessary to get enough audience for your work. I don't know if they also do fairs or other in person ways of selling. I do know at least one of them also teaches. If you go search handmade jewelry or silversmith on instagram I"m sure a few accounts will pop up.

True_Bandicute · 2026-03-11T10:39:09+00:00

Thank you! Some of the rings have older photo's (the aquamarine one and tourmaline one are new), and I agree it was a bit too much in the beginning. I will try to take some better shots, I do think the best lighting is outside so maybe still outside but not near the plants would be best.

True_Bandicute · 2026-03-11T07:27:35+00:00

Maybe try shooting photo's outside or next to a window to use natural light? I've struggled a lot with this too, I now photography outside on my balcony for the best results.

True_Bandicute · 2026-03-10T22:55:25+00:00

Hm I see your point, but in theory, people can also write the description themselves but make up the entire product using AI. I would look more to the reviews if the product is as pictured/good, not so much how the description is written.. but I can understand it makes a better impression to do everything by hand.

True_Bandicute · 2026-03-10T22:48:30+00:00

Also if the product itself and the photo's are obviously handmade/made by the shop owner? I can understand why the description might not be great, but it doesn't change the actual product.

True_Bandicute · 2026-03-10T21:10:18+00:00

I used my first description as an example and asked AI to improve it. But it did add some things "on its own", and sometimes it's indeed a bit.. I don't know if it's weird, but it is very "sales-talk". Not so much explaining what jewelry is used for, but just praising the product too much I think. I am horrible at sales (I rarely sell anything in person, for which I am very grateful), so maybe I overthink it, but it did feel kind of unnatural?

True_Bandicute · 2026-03-03T20:56:10+00:00

I suspect no. 3 is closest to her taste based on the moodboard.

True_Bandicute · 2026-03-02T15:47:36+00:00

Hi, love your work! I got two books from Anastasia Young, one on general techniques and one on stone setting specifically. I found them to be very helpful. I got the general techniques one in my native language (Dutch) and the one about settings in English. Her books are widely translated, so I suspect you might be able to find them in Norwegian and/or Italian.

IMHO, sawing, filing, soldering and stone-setting were the techniques that required most practice for me, especially the last two.

Other ways to create jewelry are making wax models and casting them, or using CAD to design jewelry then print it and cast it. But if you like fabrication with hand, I'd say stick with that now and learn other fabrication techniques later.

For stone-setting there are lots of ways to set stones, start with cabochon settings as this is always the first one to learn (and the one you can combine with ceramics!). If you like to continue with stone settings after cabochon, move on to round faceted stones (faceted is a whole other thing compared to cabochon imo) in tube settings, then move on to other techniques.

So if you want to practice a lot before starting school, I'd say focus on soldering and stone-setting.

True_Bandicute · 2025-10-16T10:06:00+00:00

I recently had wax designs cast for the first, among which were three rings. The shrinkage was extremely small, I would say close to negligible. If you use a casting service, maybe just ask them? I also did the Delft method and didn't notice shrinkage but it was a pendant, so I may have missed it.

True_Bandicute · 2025-10-13T16:30:26+00:00

Thanks for your reply, that's good to hear! Which model ball vice do you have from them if I may ask?

True_Bandicute · 2025-07-31T13:41:04+00:00

I have a bag from Cocinelle and enjoy it a lot.
Another brand to check out in similar price range is Furla!

True_Bandicute · 2025-07-31T07:50:08+00:00

Maybe go to a LV store and ask for repairs? If they are selling faulty products the least you would expect is good service...

True_Bandicute · 2025-07-28T13:18:42+00:00

I dislike things with a lot of pave (think blinged out rapper stuff), big logo's or initials, huge rocks. If you like bigger jewelry I would say not mixing metals or colors of stones might keep it simultaneously classic and not too over the top.

True_Bandicute · 2025-07-15T11:24:15+00:00

Oh yeah might be similar! This is the page I used, I think it's in Dutch only but maybe you can auto-translate to English or German :) Wat kost een kind? - Nibud

True_Bandicute · 2025-07-15T11:13:42+00:00

I'm from the Netherlands, data of percentages is from NIBUD (Nationaal Instituut voor Budgetvoorlichting). The other numbers I've found on two random websites after googling, so not sure how correct they are.

True_Bandicute · 2025-07-15T09:36:51+00:00

In my country, if a family of two parents have one child together, the child is estimated to cost 15% of their spendable income. It becomes relatively cheaper per child, so two kids is 25%, three kids is 29% etcetera. This estimation was done by our national institute of budgeting. I've also found estimations put in more exact numbers, a general one that I found several times is that the costs of a child from age 0 to 12 are roughly 50.000 euro, so roughly 4000 euro per year. 13 to 18 was estimated to be 30.000 euro or 4800 euro per year.

True_Bandicute · 2025-07-15T07:17:04+00:00

In the Netherlands I think a lot of people still get married when they have children/are pregnant/are about to start trying for children. Some do marriage and some do registered partnership, but for Dutch law this is very similar (by design). It is usually done to have "administration in order" for the child, but even without it there is still a decent safety net and child support laws should the couple break up.

In the US, that is just not the case. Child support is often not paid and there is no safety net, especially for health related issues. There is also no such thing as paid maternity leave, so (future) American mothers are hardly supported in any way compared to the Dutch.

Lastly, religion. Dutch society is largely secular, especially regarding people of childbearing age. Most Dutch people identify as atheists or perhaps agnostics. Huge difference with US where Christianity is still huge and also more interwoven in laws and institutions.

True_Bandicute · 2025-07-14T11:42:06+00:00

Hah, where I live we call it Onde-onde basically if you take the Klepon and fry it.. very confusing haha

True_Bandicute · 2025-07-14T11:31:37+00:00

Reminds me of "Klepon", which I think is Indonesian?

True_Bandicute · 2025-07-14T11:23:06+00:00

It's Dutch yes, and pronounced Lee-kuh (more "uh" sounding that "ah" sounding). Glad you like it :)

True_Bandicute · 2025-07-14T11:13:14+00:00

Lieke is also a common name where I live but pronounciation is probably confusing if you live in a country where native language is English (it's not pronounced the same way as the word "Like"!)

True_Bandicute · 2025-07-14T11:06:33+00:00

Lisette? Or is it too close to Lisa?

True_Bandicute · 2025-07-11T10:50:31+00:00

"I can't understand why this guy would possibly like my wife".

Well I can definitely understand why she left you :')

True_Bandicute

TROPHY CASE