Handmade silver work business guide: records, care, repair

This handmade silver work business guide walks the studio chain in order: what a piece consumes at the bench, how to record the cost that sits behind its price, how to describe and mark it honestly, what its care instructions must actually say, and how to control a later repair.

What to take away

A handmade silver object carries two records. One is physical: alloy, weight, joints, finish, wear. The other is commercial: bench time, price, description, approval, repair history.

Cost the piece at the bench, not at the counter

Open a job code before the first saw cut. Weigh the finished piece and the scrap, then charge the difference at your actual silver cost. A cuff that started as 40 g of sheet and finished at 26 g consumed 26 g, not 40.

Supplies and services to track:

Track bench time by stage, because the stages fail differently:

A saw cut that wanders costs a second layout. A flooded joint costs a pickling cycle and a re-solder. If those minutes land in one "making" column, you cannot see which design eats your day.

Build the labor rate from the wage you pay, payroll tax, benefits, nonbillable time and realistic capacity. An owner's draw is not the same number as recoverable labor cost, and treating it as free hides the studio's real break-even.

Overhead does not vanish because it is invisible in the piece. Costs attach to units produced. These include rent, insurance, utilities and depreciation on the rolling mill. They also include maintenance, software, safety controls and rejected work. Marketing also attaches to units produced.

Keep cost, price and profit as separate records

Cost is what the business consumes. Price is what a buyer agrees to pay. Profit is neither, and it is not the owner's wage.

A price model that survives a slow month records several things. It records direct material and outside services. It records direct labor and allocated overhead. It records a named contingency and a profit target. It also records the channel's own terms:

Test the result against demand, comparable work, capacity and cash timing. If the market will not carry the calculated price, change the design, the process, the batch size or the channel. Cutting the labor line is the one move that guarantees the work is subsidized.

Record each channel as its own transaction

Direct retail pays the maker the full sale price and hands the maker the selling work. Wholesale moves the piece to a retailer who needs room to mark it up.

Consignment keeps ownership and damage risk with the maker until the piece sells. Commission work adds deposits, revision rounds, schedule and acceptance terms.

For each channel, model net cash, payment date, unsold stock, and damage. Also model returns, discount authority, insurance, and shipping. Also model display wear and who collects sales tax. A higher tag does not guarantee a higher net.

Describe the object in terms you can defend

The FTC Jewelry Guides, at 16 CFR Part 23, cover claims about metallic content, size, weight, and treatment. They also cover origin, manufacture, price, durability, and serviceability. In the United States the National Gold and Silver Stamping Act allows a quality mark only where the fineness is accurate and the mark is accompanied by a maker's mark or trademark. Apply the current guides and the rules of each jurisdiction you sell into.

"Hand-finished" is not "handmade" unless you can define the difference for that piece. Plated material is not solid silver. Skip hypoallergenic, investment and sustainability claims unless the evidence matches the exact wording.

Hallmarking is set by law, not by the studio. In the United Kingdom, the Hallmarking Act 1973 requires precious-metal articles to be assayed and struck by one of the four assay offices — London, Birmingham, Sheffield or Edinburgh — with a sponsor's mark, an assay office mark and a fineness mark. The sponsor, the business that submits the piece, is the party named on the mark, and a maker registers that sponsor's mark with an assay office before submitting work; imported pieces are assayed on import and carry an import mark. The United States has no compulsory assay: the maker answers for the accuracy of the mark under the FTC Jewelry Guides and the National Gold and Silver Stamping Act.

Sales tax and import duty are separate questions from the mark. In California, a base sales and use tax rate of 7.25 percent applies statewide. In New York, the combined sales and use tax rate equals the state rate of 4 percent plus any local rate imposed by a city, county or school district, with an additional 0.375 percent within the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District. Confirm classification and nexus with CBP or the state tax authority before you rely on a mark or a rate.

Write care instructions for the build in front of you

A card written for solid sterling can ruin a plated chain, a patinated recess, an enamel panel or a set pearl. Name what to avoid, how to store the piece, which gentle cleaning is safe, and when to bring it back to the bench.

What to put in the care instructions

Say plainly that tarnish and wear are different things. Note whether a satin texture, a patina, a hollow form or a flexible joint needs periodic inspection. Do not promise silver will never tarnish or that a finish is permanent.

Control repairs with an intake record

Photograph the piece at intake before it is cleaned or tested, and record these details:

Set an approval threshold in writing. If inspection finds plating, an unstable stone, severe thinning or hidden solder, stop and issue a change proposal. Keep removed parts and return them when agreed.

A repair estimate is built the same way as a new piece: metal consumed, solder and findings, stones that must be unset and reset, finishing time, and a final inspection. Work only to the scope you photographed, and treat re-tipping a prong, re-sizing, re-soldering, plating removal and re-polishing as separate bench operations, each with its own material and time lines.

Repair work on an unknown metal, or a request to alter a hallmark, goes to an assay office or a qualified attorney, not to the bench.

Keep one connected product file

The finished file links these items:

How long a file stays is a policy, not a habit. Fix one schedule for the studio and let it govern quotes, approvals, cost sheets, bench time, photographs, invoices and care sheets, and set the periods with a qualified adviser rather than deciding job by job.

Common questions

Is material cost times three a reliable silver price?

Not on its own. A multiplier can miss bench time, overhead, channel commission, returns and the profit the business needs to stay open. Use it as a sanity check, never as the model.

Should an owner count personal labor?

Yes. Log productive and nonproductive hours and set a defensible labor rate. Treating owner time as free makes every underpriced piece look profitable.

Can one care card cover every silver piece?

Only where alloy, finish, setting and limitations match. Plated, patinated, enamelled and mixed-material pieces usually need their own wording.

Can a repair price be fixed before inspection?

Sometimes, but state the uncertainty. Use an inspection stage, named exclusions and a written approval step for anything the inspection turns up.