Real-Life Decision Making
As a jewelry maker, you have been asked to design and create nine family
rings. Your task is to take an idea, draw a design and create an actual product.
Mold making is just part of the entire process of jewelry making. It takes
a great deal of planning. You need to take the time to come up with the proper
mold.
These nine rings will have an identical design. This is the only time you
will be creating and producing this particular ring.
There is a story behind the design of the ring that is unique to this family.
The family has a history of collecting pine cones every winter
to decorate their homes for Christmas. These have been used for generations
as a symbol of the family's love and togetherness.
There is a portrait in the family from the 14th century. It shows an ancestor
wearing a ring with a design of a pinecone on it. The client has asked that
you create such a ring, but create it in the traditional medieval way.
Mark Shier makes medieval jewelry. "As much as possible, I use the methods
and materials appropriate to each piece," he says. "This means that I get
to spend a great deal of time doing research, both in libraries and in museums.
At times, I spend more time doing the research than making the piece. I almost
never copy a period piece exactly. I prefer to work in the medieval or ancient
style of the piece that inspires me."
The client is willing to pay you well for the project, and has given you
a fair budget from which to work. A family reunion is planned in a few months,
and the matriarch of the family wants to present all of the sons and grandsons
with this ring.
Once the design is drawn and everyone is pleased with the results, it is
time to decide how you are going to go about making it. The mold must be created,
and now you have to decide which is the most economical way of producing it.
The client has asked for you to create the ring as it would have been created
years ago. You have to choose between two molds -- a stone mold or clay mold.
Stone is tougher to work with than clay, and a stone mold takes longer.
However, the stone mold could be re-used. That means that you could make one
mold for all nine rings, making sure they were identical. On the other hand,
clay allows you more creative freedom. Because you would have to make nine
molds, each ring would be unique.
Both the stone mold and the clay mold are authentic to the time, which
is what your client really wants.
What do you do?