On Sunday, March 7th I was laying on my couch, sick, zonked out on Nyquil and half watching the Academy Awards. To be honest, I rarely watch award shows. But I was half asleep and decided that it would be a good excuse to see what kind of fashion was gracing the red carpet this year.
As I was watching, I was thinking about what a great opportunity for small fashion designers to get tons of publicity. But, as I watched, I realized that it’s not quite the same for jewelers. A fashion designer can spend 1 or 2k on fabric and labor and come up with an amazing gown. Jewelers, on the other hand, usually spend at least 100k, on the low end. Celebrities are so excited to say their jewelry is worth 2mil and up. How can small jewelers compete with that?
AND beyond the budget, it normally takes a team of 5-10 to make a piece of jewelry. There are the designers, the fabricators (either in wax, metal or a combination of both), the jewelers that assemble the pieces, the stones setters, and polishers… and don’t forget the possibility of engravers, laser welding technicians, etc. And all of the time put into these pieces is normally between 800-1200 hours. Again, how can a small jeweler compete with that?
And with this, I came up with the brilliant (or insane or insanely stupid) idea that I want to compete! I want to build a piece of ‘Oscar worthy’ jewelry! And on a budget! And from my Nyquil induced drugged state the Green Spot Studio Oscar Challenge was born!
A few days later, as I came out of my haze, I started to think about the details and how on earth I could possibly make this work. Even if I somehow could pull an incredible piece of jewelry out of thin air, how would anybody know about it? I am a teeny tiny little jeweler. I do not pay for advertising. My clients find me through word of mouth, my website, my blog, etc. Basically, all clients find me through social media.
These thoughts made part two of my Oscar Challenge come to light… I am going to document this entire process and share every step! And now this isn’t just an Oscar Challenge, but now a Social Media Experiment too! I must seriously be going insane!
My hopes are that you will find my challenge appealing enough to follow along… and share it with others.
Over the next couple of weeks I will outline the entire challenge, share my design ideas, budget, materials, and thought behind why I am making my choices… and then the photos will start coming!
But don’t forget, I still have to run my regular company. So expect to see my regular work and life updates!
Stay Tuned!!!
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