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20 Ways You Know You’re a Jeweler
- You want tools. Lots of them. Everywhere.
- You like how polishing gives a nice luster to only two or three of your fingernails. Don’t they look nice?
- You know the difference between soldering and fusing.
- You use pickle, and not for cucumbers.
- You have an uncanny tolerance to touching hot things.
- You know that boraxo powdered soap is the best cleanser to keep your hands from looking like an auto mechanic. (You have to present jewelry with these hands for goodness sake.)
- You have a flashlight, not to see in the dark, but to spot sparkly gemstones on the floor when they flick and fling across the room.
- You find yourself stopping at every jewelry counter to check out the quality, pricing and display as well as humbly wonder if the sales person is nice and informed.
- You feel deprived when you haven’t sat at your bench.
- You’re fingerprints have been massacred.
- Having to change your focus to see a landscape is a noticeable adjustment. (You should look up from your bench and focus on something in the distance regularly to help with this.)
- You really don’t want to look like the Hunchback of Notre Dame, but sitting up straight is truly a worse option.
- You know better than to wear your jewelry to the gym (and cringe when you see big diamond rings and dumbbells together.)
- You wish ladies that decoupage, paint, make pottery, plant flowers in the garden, or knead dough would kindly take their rings off beforehand or give the jewelry the respect it deserves with a nice cleaning afterwards. Ring cheese is the enemy in all its moist, gunky and hardened forms.
- You know that unless you make jewelry, you don’t know what goes into making jewelry.
- You really wonder about your safety on a regular basis, but then you think, inhaling fumes, exploding tanks and metallic exposure are just the risk of creating joyful treasures for people and future heirlooms.
- You know that unless you work with your family in the jewelry business, then you won’t see them until after the busy holiday season. You’re an elf for goodness sake.
- You have a collection of stones that grows faster than you can make jewels to hold them.
- You don’t like working with anyone else’s tools.
- You blow your nose and are disappointed to find that even with a mask, there are still black little boogies.
YKYAJ when you have that alienated feeling, because your family and friends wants to inspire you by sharing videos and pictures of DIY jewellery on your Facebook wall.
YKYAJ when people start asking if you can get a discount on gold.
YKYAJ when you loose your trust in people’s ability to accurately describe the shape something.
YKYAJ when you find yourself standing in an awkward position, wishing the metal piece at show in a museum, was turned upside down, so you could see the backside.
I’d like to add to #10 – during show season I actually get what I call “velcro fingers” because my finger tips form little velcro-like hooks that snag fine fabric when brushed against them.
Amy, That is such a great addition! You just gave me chills -that feeling is a pet peeve of mine, bleh!
You know you are a jeweler when your wardrobe is a few seasons out of date but your tool box is better than most guys you know!
You’d rather read the Riogrande catalog than a novel…
Things like eating, peeing sleeping can always wait just a little bit longer when you’ve got a great project going…
You can tell what gauge wire or sheet is by site, or the size of stones…
You can think of no better living than making beautiful things with your own hands!
Haha! Totally! These are MUST additions!
You’re a jeweler when your go to emery board for that hang nail is a bastard file.
You’re a jeweler when people ask “how did you make that?” and you start….”First I had to bend the 10g wire around the mandrel, and then I sawed each one of these pieces and used a very fluffy flame to….” Only to look up to a glazed over expression, but you DON’T CARE, you just keep telling them how you made that beautiful piece! If they know me, they no longer ask how I made it!
It’s that you acknowledge the eye glazing that counts! It makes me so frustrated that people aren’t interested to know how intense it was to make.
a couple more – YKYAJ when you bring your pad, butane torch and head mag so you can work while at the auto mechanics, and shrug when they laugh at you. ALSO – add honey to your First Aid kit, it makes the burn just…go away. And my worst – YKYAJ when you recognize people by their jewelry (and conversely DON’T recognize people once they change their jewelry!).
YKYAJ!!! Your wit took me a min, Sam, but the YKYAJ is official now!
you know you`re a jeweler when there`s a leather bag hanging below your table ( just below that half circle cut out of it..)
Oh but, Arno, those are only for the really cool jewelers. ..or else I’m not officially a jeweler because I just have the trays that pull out. 🙁
Fantastic ! I think I am most probably a jeweller now 🙂
you passed! 😉
When you realize that swarovski crystals are just nicely cut glass, but sea glass is a broken wine bottle that has been kissed by a mermaid.
I’m in love with the way you said this. What a true perspective! How I love wine bottles and mermaids… put them together and bam!
You know you’re a jeweler when… You can happily obsess over the limitless creative possibilities of a square centimeter of precious metal for hours on end, but if someone should ask you to do five minutes of simple math? You’re outta there!
It’s all relative. Tiny scale is the world that captivates us.
You know you’re a jeweler when your most prized possession is your rolling mill. And your favorite dinner companions are other jewelers.
Awe, the righteous rolling mill. You cozy it up with nice cushions of sewing machine oil and cover it up for the night to make sure it maintains it’s precious glory.
You know you’re a jeweller when you go to the post office with your head band mag still on! (I thought everyone was being very nice smiling at me!)
That’s one I have yet to see, Rita! You know it’s comfortable when that happens. Mine has yet to become so comfortable I forget it’s there.. and I even tried wrapping a silk scarf around the visor band.
You answer the door and wonder why the Jehovah’s Witnesses left so uncomfortably. Viser up, pliers in hand, protective mask on ,filthy apron… I was umm baking yeah that;s the ticket lol
Haha! I like when my mailman comes to the door. He’s become progressively curious and it makes for a good comedy break.
NEVER try to use accelerate with the superglue on cuts! The burn afterwards us way worse! Lol
ewe and oooh, Jeri Lynn! Yowza! Thanks for the heads up.
Oh god, right on target. Fingers are hopelessly cracked, dried and gray from working, blowing black bodgers out of nose. So true, it’s hilarous. Only a jeweler/metalsmith can truly understand. As usual, Superglue is a bandage for beside gluing pearls. I’m impervious to heat with my battered, scarred and callused hands.
Awesome, Joy! Glad you enjoyed and related to it. These comments are hilarious too! The list continues.
that bottle of super glue closes wounds better than stitches. And who has time for stitches?
Absolutely no time for stitches. Glue it up!
Love it especially #1, Hammers are my favorite tools, maybe that makes me more of a metalsmith
The array of hammers and their many uses continues to amaze me, Bob!
….making your finger into a pinch cushion reminds you to sharpen your engraver
….the sound of the drill at the dentist has no affect on you
….when speaking to other jewelers you realize “these people are just as strangely weird as I am. I’ve found my crew”
Oh, yea, that’s the best about the dentist. Those noises are comforting because it sounds like the workshop.
These are my peeps! We’re a challenge-loving & cuddly bunch.
.. you look at a picture of someone holding a WIP piece, and notice the BANDAID on the tip of their middle finger before you see the piece
.. and we all know why the bandaid is there..
Haha! I think I developed a latex allergy because I’ve over used bandaids.
…when the silver dots/tattoos on your fingers don’t wash off.
That’s hard core, TinkerSue!
Got multiple blue tats from silver splinters removed.
….you laugh when your husband says “be careful of that saw, honey. Don’t cut yourself!”
Only because you’ve already been there, done that, honey. We *try* to keep our fingers out of the way, but sometimes, it’s just part of the territory.
I don’t have anything to add, I just want to say how hilarious and *true* it is!! OMG #20!!
Haha, Sara, true stories are always the best. Happy you like it!
Hilarious! Love this
Thank you, Tracy! I love the additions too. Too FUNny.
…when your first aid kit consists of polysporin, cotton rags and electrical tape.
absolutely! and BurnJelPlus. Right on, Jeanette!
You scoff when a waiter brings your plates to the table, saying, “Be careful… they’re really hot.”
and
Red rouge can double as rouge in a pinch.
Yes! Danielle, that’s much better than my #5, much more tactile 😀
I won’t tell anyone you have polishing compound on your cute cheeks if you don’t.