A silver pendant set with an emerald, amethysts and goshenite (white beryl) by Brandy
I was fortunate to meet Brandy Sinclair, a fellow Pittsburgh jeweler and metalsmith at my first Propelle networking happy hour. Brandy has been running her own studio for 10 years! Her husband Brian is a certified gemologist and together they create rare jewelry fit for royalty. As a history buff, Brandy puts a lot of research into the concept and design of each creation. Every link of chain is handmade and Brandy and Brian donate part of their sales to historical research and conservation to boot!
We met up for some coffee and studio-talk and Brandy was gracious enough to let me publish our conversation on the Frost Finery blog.
Featuring: Brandy Sinclair
http://www.sinclairjewelry.
Twitter: @RabbitDance
Instagram: SinclairJewelry
Brandy‘s Q&A’s:
I read on your website that you have 2 art degrees! What did you study and where did you go?
B: The Art Institute of Pittsburgh for animation, analog and digital (everything from cells and flash to maya) and video game design. I worked myself out of the industry when I got carpal tunnel syndrome at the age of 22. I had to take a break for awhile after that.
Are you a self-taught jeweler then?
B: Yes. Books, more books, the internet and lots of practice. I also learned basic metalwork growing up with my Grandpa Smith who was an inventor and taught wood shop and metal tech. I worked with brass and steel and learned everything from annealing, braising, bending… to help him with his miniature steam engines that ran on dry ice!
I think it is highly commendable that you make every piece of metal in your jewelry – every chain and jump ring. Do you save money or time by working this way or is it more of a work philosophy?
B: It’s a work philosophy, I definitely don’t save time or money. No part of a piece of jewelry is unimportant and a beautiful pendant deserves a beautiful, custom chain. I tend to make chains that you can’t normally find – not like a box, curb or cable chain. Also, the people I’m selling to appreciate the strong historical perspective. It makes me really happy when someone sees one of my chains and recognizes it as being a Roman style.
What advice can you give for a jeweler who wants to learn to set faceted stones? And, is there one invaluable tool you would suggest adding to a jewelers toolkit for stone setting?
B: http://www.ganoksin.com/ is a great resource, as well as youtube, but again just experiment and practice. I use Jett Sett Fixturing Compound which is really useful for creating holding fixtures for rings and other things when stone setting. Most of the time it’s just a lot of MacGyvering.
*(I had no idea what this was, but Rio has a great how-to video; https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Do you have a formula for pricing out work?
B: Sort of. I’ll charge a certain amount per hour for simpler tasks and then up it for more advanced tasks. I also always add overhead plus the value of materials. In the end, we always have to consider the perceived value of work too.
Do you sell your work in other stores? Do you have a wholesale or consignment method when selling to shop owners?
B: Currently no, but I’d like to. Often finding the right fit is tricky. Generally it’s good to times by 2.2 or 2.5 when selling wholesale. Shop owners will usually have a minimum buy of about 10 pieces so casting items can be really helpful to keep up with inventory.
You and your husband work together from home and you have a daughter. How do you manage to stay organized and keep things running on time?
B: Generally our philosophy is to not be reactionary. Be proactive not reactive. We have some systems set in place, like email templates and an FAQ page to copy and paste directly to customers if something comes up.
We also use Evernote Premium to help schedule things out, scan receipts and we tag everything so it’s easy to search. I can upload my jewelry sketches to Evernote, send them to Brian and we can annotate notes so we have documentation of our thoughts and ideas too.
I also have a “Marketing Monday” where I write a blog post or publish something on Instagram or Twitter. We can’t theme every day because something unexpected pops up when you have a kid, but marketing monday is something I know from week to week I can handle.
What is a work week like for you? Do you usually work off of supply and demand from orders online?
B: Some of it’s based off of online orders, but I sell most of my work in person because my rings are popular and they’re easier for people to try on at shows. It also gives me the opportunity to explain my process so customers have a greater appreciation for what they’re buying. I participate in RAWArtists, the I Made It Markets, and other art festivals. I just invested in a tent this year so I’m hoping to do more.
Many thanks again to Brandy for sharing! Follow Brandy for more metal maven madness. I personally love her Instagram and am so impressed by her diligent and beautiful sketches she shares every day. Keep rockin’ lady!
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