Diamond Rings and More

A lot of beaded jewelry designers work throughout the day putting together unique jewelry pieces and buying jewelry supplies for that next necklace or pair of earrings. One good way to avoid that jewelry making burn out while still using your jewelry making talents is to begin to repair jewelry on the side! Making jewelry is a challenging hobby and it can be very rewarding, but it can also drain your creativity if you’re making a lot of unique jewelry designs and then spending lots of time putting together the materials for each piece over and over.

Instead of making a anklet from your own ideas, you usually need to take an existing jewelry pattern and find beads to replace missing or broken jewelry pieces that either look similar to the rest of the jewelry piece or at least compliment it. Fixing jewelry requires a slightly different approach to buying jewelry supplies because you’ll want to have lots of connectors, seed beads and stringing materials available. You’ll also need think about using a professional jewelry management program to track what jewelry supplies you have on hand, what you’ll need to purchase soon and where you can get them for the best price. Repairing handmade jewelry uses your jewelry making talents and will often present some fun challenges. Here are some other tricks to remember when you start fixing jewelry for clients:

Matching jewelry supplies to older jewelry is often very difficult. You have a better chance of locating replacement beads or pieces that are complimentary, though sometimes matching the color of certain gemstones can be very frustrating.

Keep an eye out for structural aging in older jewelry pieces. Even though a clasp isn’t broken, you may want to suggest replacing it before it does fall apart.

Remember to price yourself fairly. Often times you will be fixing a piece of jewelry that holds a special meaning or is particularly liked by your client. You are providing a service of not just fixing a piece of jewelry, but often you’re helping restore a memory or feeling!

Finally, remember to have fun with it! Both fixing custom jewelry and designing your own jewelry are enjoyable ways to make some extra money, but it’s up to you to find the right balance to keep you smiling and profitable at the same time. You can usually charge just as much to fix a piece of jewelry as you would to create it. But because are often working with existing jewelry materials fixing a piece of jewelry may be much more profitable.

Want to pick up more tips and tricks? You can visit our site to read more about handcrafted jewelry making and get some great jewelry ideas while you’re there.