I want to help you understand how easy it is to have a unique piece of jewellery made just for you by sharing a story about how I made Debbie's bracelet.
Debbie and I discovered each other through Instagram. Her love of gardening and for roses in particular are only matched by the love of her family. It was her 60th birthday this year which of course is a good excuse for a special piece of jewellery to be designed
" My family asked me what I would like for my 60th Birthday; I knew a bracelet designed by Wendy would be perfect."
I was contacted by Debbie's daughter Stephanie and given a really clear brief which is so helpful. Debbie had a pretty clear idea of what she wanted and trusted her husband and daughter to work out the details with me so it was more of a surprise on her big day.
The brief was for a silver bracelet with gold accents and white sapphires using the interlocking organic elements that she had seen on the necklace below that I had shared on Instagram. Stephanie also gave me a ballpark budget to work with which was great.
I set to work on Photoshop to create images for Stephanie and her father to review and gradually we evolved the design together. Initially the chain I chose was too heavy and then we played around with adding different gold elements, how the organic loops were joined together and the position of the sapphires.
Once we got to the final design I was able to give a firm quote and requested a 50% deposit before getting to work to bring the design to life. Then the balance was paid just before posting the finished piece. I try to make the images look very life like so there is no surprise at the end.
Below is a photo that Debbie took of the finished bracelet laid over one of her beautiful roses. My heart was in my mouth waiting to hear how the piece is received and I was over joyed to hear her reaction.
"The beauty of this bracelet and the special commission is, that it's unique to me, nobody else has it or will. And in this world of mass production, that feels just so special."
" I simply love the beauty of my bracelet, the love and thought that went into creating it and the uniqueness. Thank you Wendy, its perfect and I shall always treasure it."
As you can imagine, this sort of feedback is just so uplifting and makes me realise how lucky I am to be able to make things for people which have such deep meaning in their lives. I always say that the jewellery designer only does 50% of the job - it's the sentiment of the giver that makes the piece truly precious.
So, hopefully this shows you that commissioning a bespoke piece of jewellery is an easy and enjoyable process with no surprises or disappointments. What's more, we have done all of this without ever having met. That seems strange to me because I feel that I know Debbie because we comment on each other's Instagram posts each day!
If you are tempted to have a piece designed for you don't hesitate to get in contact. I don't charge for the design stage even if you decide against moving forward with it. Go on, give me a call!
To take a look at Debbie's instagram post about her bracelet click here
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