These terms has evolved through the years and has been updated to reflect changes in the studio. They are unusual in some ways. so please, if you are about to request a commissioned jewellery, read this page and if there are issues that are not clear or you are not comfortable with, please communicate this with me.
1) Wishes and Request are encouraged, and will be included in the work as much as possible and as long as they feel suitable within the overall design. With that said, the studio has the final say on all matters of design.
2) This agreement is an open arrangement. You are free to pull out of the commission, and you don’t have to take the finished jewellery if you don’t want to. Or if you feel the price is more then what you are ready to pay.
3) The cost of the commissioned jewellery is determined only upon completion of the work. If and any numbers mentioned before completion are but an estimate, not necessarily reflecting an actual final cost.
4) Up until this year [2019] when all work was strictly hand made in the studio, I always tried not to take an Advance, preferring to [as much as possible] create the jewellery with the metal and gemstones I have in the studio, or can obtain within my means. I did request an advance for buying more expensive gemstones required for the work, and with some complex projects when the work span over a long period of time. Now as things has changed a lot with the way I work. At the stage when designing and modelling are complete and the Work goes to print, and after the customer has seen detailed photorealistic rendering of the upcoming jewellery. I will need an advance to cover the ‘out of studio’ costs.
5) It can be that on some Commission request from new customers, there will be a need for an advance upfront. That advance will be returned fully if I decide to cancel the commission, if the customer cancel after work began… the advance will be returned after subtracting the charge for the work already invested in the commission, plus some material charge [mainly a percentage of the gold used that has been lost due to work processes and refining costs]
5a)In the event a commission project is canceled after work began, any advance received, will be returned to the customer, but usually only once the jewellery is completed and sold! [there is no time commitment here, as some work may take a long while to complete and sale.
5 b) In the rare event that there is a need to cancel a commission, I will try to return any advance as soon as I can! But this too may still be tied up to the sale of that piece or another that allows for that cash to be available.
This should be understood within the context of the financial limitations that comes with this kind of art in this commercial world of jewellery manufacturers.
6) Regarding Gemstones, I usually prefer to use my own, or source the proper stones needed for a specific commission work. Any gemstones supplied by the customer remain entirely the customer’s responsibility at all times.
6 a) I will do my utmost to take care of customer’s gemstones, but I will not in any way be responsible for loss, theft, or any damage to these gemstones during work and the period of time in which the stones are in the studio. Customers need to be aware of this especially when an expensive or sentimentally important stone is concerned.
6 b) In case the customer decides to pull out of the Commission after work has begun, they will receive back their gemstones, and yet in the event that these gemstones are of unusual properties or shape intrinsic to the design and the work that has already begun, I may either offer to buy the stones from the customer, at wholesale price, or I may be forced to charge for the work already invested in the canceled commission.
The same apply to the possibility that the customer choose not to take the completed commissioned jewellery. In both situations, payment for the gemstones will happen through the same channel as with the return of advance.
7) It takes Time! And some complex intricate works of jewellery may take a very long time…. I know this is something that for some is simply un-digestible. To wait a year for a ring, and yet some rings had taken longer then that!
Smaller simpler pieces may be ready within a few weeks.
With complete respect and sincerity, I will try to complete work in time for truly important occasions. However, I will not commit to deadlines for completion. At times it is better to let a partly worked piece sit aside for a while, allowing design and technical issues to mature in the background instead of pushing for completion and compromising the work!
8) Price calculation: There is no separate charge for consultation and design, the price charged is for the creation of the jewellery as a whole. It is established by various factors. Some factors, such as cost of materials are easily calculable, while other elements like artistic beauty, and quality of work, are more of s subjective opinion. I do not charge by the hour but configure an approximate bulk of time into the calculation. Work time, is usually a large part of the price of these Work of jewellery. It is not a clear cut how to price correctly these jewellery art pieces. How much they worth may be very different for each pairs of eyes.
9) Mutual trust is intrinsic to Commissioned work. I will only take a commission from a person who trust my integrity and work, and whom I feel I can trust.
I’d like to request that anyone who wishes to commission work from me read through these terms, even you dear friends and previous customers, where trust and familiarity are already present.
Anyone is very welcome to come forth with any suggestions or reservations that he/she may have.