Tips for Purchasing
Designer Jewelry Within Your Budget

. . . or how customers and jewelry artists
can work out a transaction together.

If you're a designer jewelry customer, you may feel that to be able to afford artisan-crafted pieces, you must sometimes do without some of the features you really love. That's not always true, however. Let's say that you've found a handcrafted necklace you love, but the price is a bit higher than your budget will allow.

Before giving up on this necklace as too expensive, or spending more than you can afford and buying it anyway, consider a different option. This approach requires a little work on your part, but it can be a very effective way for you to acquire jewelry that would otherwise be outside of your price range. It's a way of working with the jewelry artist to create a situation where everyone wins.

The objective is to come up with a piece of designer jewelry you love, that also matches your budget, while yielding a fair profit to the jewelry artisan. It is possible to achieve this objective, and sometimes you'll wind up with jewelry that's even more attractive than you could have ever wished. The trick, and it's not a hard one, is to find a designer who is interested in working with you.

This method involves prioritizing the most important and least important features of the jewelry in question, suggesting less expensive replacements for the less important features, and offering a possible wish list if your replacement features cut the cost enough for the designer to include other items you'd like.

Here is the procedure for using this method to arrive at handcrafted designer jewelry that fits your budget. You can modify the procedures to whatever suits you, the jewelry designer, and the situation.

1. Keeping your own preferences in mind, and without input from anyone else, write down the critical components or characteristics that attracted you to this particular piece of jewelry.

2. Then write down all the components or characteristics that are less critical to you.

3. If you wish, you can list suggestions for less expensive replacements for the less critical components, perhaps in areas where the attractiveness of the piece won't be diminished by a cost-saving feature. Keep your budget in mind.

4. Include a wish list of possible components, characteristics, or a pattern that may increase your appreciation of the jewelry.

5. Now go back and read over what you've written. It's very important to review your work up to this point, making updates if needed. Be both honest and realistic for the best results.

All the hard work is now completed! It's time to have some fun. Create a table or spreadsheet, using whatever software you're most comfortable with.

Use column headings to categorize the information you just wrote down, such as:

- Name of Jewelry Piece
- Critical
- Less Critical
- Replacement
- Wish List:
a) Clasp - Same size, less costly
b) Add Swarovski Crystal(s)
c) Silver Beads - Fewer beads, more spacers
d) Chain - Delete
e) Pendant - Change to (details)
f) Charms - Change to (type & size)

Remember that you don't want to overwhelm your designer but you get the idea.

Now transfer all the information you wrote down in step 1 to your table or spreadsheet.

You can include some text below your table if you would like to go into more detail, and you can add as many rows or columns as needed to get your point across. It's all right to leave a cell blank if you have no preference. The purpose of this table is to prioritize the critical and the less critical aspects of the piece of designer jewelry.

Just as important, though, is that this table / spreadsheet will provide the designer with the information needed to create an item that will satisfy all of your wants - or as many as possible, anyway.

1. Email the jewelry designer, and let them know that you love the particular piece they've created, and that if possible you'd like to purchase a similar one with minor changes that would put it within your budget. Inform the designer that you have created a table that they may use to help you achieve your objectives. Let the designer know your budget for the piece, to enable them to come up with modifications that would make the piece affordable for you.

Take into account that this process is also about building a lasting business relationship with a jewelry designer whose work you love.

2. If the designer is interested in customizing a piece of jewelry to fit your budget, you will more than likely receive a reply shortly.

3. Send your table / spreadsheet only if requested by the designer. You're halfway there, having successfully started a professional dialogue with a designer who is interested in creating a piece of jewelry that will earn your business, within reason. Keep in mind that most good designers will refuse to use certain materials; high standards regarding the materials help the artist to establish a certain quality that makes their designer jewelry valuable, so you may have to work out a compromise on some features. Also remember that the artist's time is a factor in pricing.

4. If things work as you have hoped, the designer will let you know how they would like to proceed. Be prepared to pay for the item in full before it is actually created; most artists have been burned on custom orders for people who later changed their minds about purchasing. But enjoy the excitement of knowing that your suggestions have guided the design of an item that you can take special pride in wearing.

If your designer can't help you (which should only be the case if you've asked for too much, in return for a price that is too low), you still have options.

Look at your list and you'll discover that it also has excellent keyword phrases that are listed in order of importance to you, which you can use to search online for other designer jewelry. If you use this option, you already have a table that may (or may not) be useful with just a little editing, for starting the process over until you find a designer that can make you happy.

If you're reasonable in what you're requesting for the price you're willing to pay, and reasonable in your demands of the artist creating what you request, you should be able to wind up with that special piece of designer jewelry that really speaks to you . . . and you and the designer both will win!

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