Ilham Ina

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 jewelry pieces and then spending lots of energy putting together the supplies for each piece repeatedly. One unique way to avoid that jewelry making burn out while still using your jewelry making skills is to begin offering jewelry repair services! Many of custom jewelry makers work around the clock putting together unique jewelry pieces and buying jewelry supplies for that next bracelet or pair of earrings.

Instead of making a necklace from your own ideas, you usually need to take someone else’s jewelry pattern and find beads to replace missing or broken jewelry pieces that either match the rest of the jewelry piece or at least compliment it. Fixing jewelry requires a slightly different approach to purchasing jewelry supplies because you’ll need to have a wide variety of connectors, seed beads and wire available. You’ll also want think about using a professional jewelry database program to track what jewelry pieces you have on hand, what you’ll need to buy soon and where you can get them for the lowest price. Repairing handmade jewelry uses your jewelry design talents and will usually present some fun challenges. Here are some useful tips and tricks to remember when you begin repairing jewelry for others:

Matching replacement pieces to older jewelry is often next to impossible. You have a much better chance of finding replacement jewelry supplies or pieces that are complimentary, though sometimes getting the color right on certain precious stones can be very challenging.

Keep an eye out for structural aging in old jewelry pieces. Even though a connector isn’t broken, you may want to recommend replacing it before it does break.

Don’t be afraid to price your services in line with the going rates. Often times you will be fixing a piece of jewelry that holds a sentimental meaning or is particularly liked by your customer. You’re performing a service of not just fixing a piece of jewelry, but often you’re helping restore a memory or feeling!

Don’t forget to have fun with it! Both repairing handmade jewelry and designing your own jewelry are fun ways to make some extra money, but it’s up to you to find the proper balance to keep you smiling and making money at the same time. And really, you can generally charge just as much to repair a piece of jewelry as you would to create it. But because are often working with existing jewelry materials fixing a piece of jewelry can be much more profitable.

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