Jewel Narratives

Warning: If I had a brand advisor, this post would not make the cut.

My previous post described my now not-so-secret job description as a Cloudwatcher, a metaphor for daydreaming, woolgathering and lollygagging. It’s pasted up on my workshop wall, and I wrote that I ‘take heart from it on difficult days’.

Quite apart from the death, destruction and doom that is prevalent throughout the world at the moment, making us feel ever more ignored, powerless and disturbed, I have to say that recently, specifically over the last three weeks, the days have been difficult.

Since the Spring, I’ve spent a lot of time re-arranging my workshop, trying to get the space to flow and work for me. Pretty much every functional item has been moved, cleaned, re-situated or sorted, right down to what is hidden, layered in, throughout all the piles of roughly ‘filed’ papers.

I decided that I would not start real work there until all this is done, as, if not, I fear that meaningless papers from the last century will still be there in ten years’ time. Perhaps you know how that goes.

Such tasks sometimes seem like procrastination, but I find that it enables a kind of digestive thinking. At least that’s what I tell myself.

About three weeks ago the re-arrange was still not quite done, but I’d caught up with a back-log and it was time to start a couple of commissions, with the first task, to solder a simple silver ring shank.

My torch just would not hold a flame. Every time I introduced the oxygen, the flame would last a few seconds and then poof, gone. Thinking that the gas tank seemed low, I replaced it with a full one = ninety minutes or so + £46. No luck.

I checked the kit = 30 minutes. No luck.

I spoke to the torch supplier. They spoke to the manufacturer. Had I read the hand book? Yes, even though I’ve been using this set successfully for several years, I had located (thanks to my newly ordered workshop) and re-read the handbook. Maybe I should keep trying. Ya think? = 48 hours. No luck.

Time for a new propane regulator = 5 days + £35.

I rigged it all up. Every time I introduced the oxygen, the flame would last a few seconds and then poof, gone. I checked the seals, drained the hoses, cleaned the torch heads, experimented with the pressure and gas flow = 24 hours. No luck.

I ordered a complete replacement torch kit (from a different supplier) and new flashback arrestors = 4 days + £279.

I rigged it all up. Every time I introduced the oxygen, the flame would last a few seconds and then poof, gone. I checked the seals, drained the hoses, experimented with the pressure and gas flow = three hours. No luck.

Whilst knowing it should not make a difference, because surely, that’s what the regulator is for, I sourced a third gas bottle, in a smaller size, because one of the Google troubleshooting lists mentioned tank size, and, well, you just never know, and we no longer live in a world that makes any sense anyway so… = 3 hours + £60.

Even you know the drill by now. No luck.

I Googled the problem again. Lots. I stopped when one of the many lists stated that “if none of the above steps work” I should “consult a professional jeweller”.

I am a professional jeweller. Aren’t I? That is what I do. Does that mean, I started to wonder, that I’m not actually a professional jeweller?

Did the torch ever work as it was supposed to? Am I imagining previous successes?

Then I repeated the same online research I’d done in 2017, before I decided to switch to this torch system. I found the video demonstrations of the flame varieties possible with this system, with the exact set up I have, although I don’t have flammable curtains near my soldering station…

I realised that it’s not me.

I haven’t lost my grip, my touch or my marbles. I have actually experienced exactly what the video showed, using the exact same configuration of kit. I’ve used that #7 torch tip to produce a 15cm flame and a super-hot, focussed 2cm flame.

I’m supposed to be delivering the delayed commission tomorrow. It’s not going to happen. Luckily my understanding client is not in a hurry. I am though… instead of putting the profit on the commission towards materials to make work for Goldsmiths’ Fair this Autumn, all the profit and much more has gone, poof.

So, instead of writing thoughtfully about my process, or sorting out pictures of my work in progress, I’m listening to a deluge of heavy rain, thunder rumbling in the distance, while I write about my first world problems.

To add insult to this situation, my brand new replacement torch has extremely sticky controls. One side loosened up, as I suspected it would, but the gas control is extremely stiff.

The thunder storms have passed and the sun is shining again – outside.

Instead of delivering my commission, and melting some heirloom gold to make a wedding ring, I have to try to contact suppliers where no phone number is given and the email ‘Reply To’ address is: noreply@…

So I have to use an email bot, type in my problem (where do I start?) Typically, this is happening on a Friday, so no response over the weekend. Turns out that despite a request to talk, I have to continue with the email bot. I do.

Then I have to make and send a video demonstrating the problem, so that it may be sent to the manufacturer. This is presumably the same manufacturer that asked if I had read the handbook. It’s a pity this problem isn’t covered in the wretched handbook. 4 days = No luck.

Either way, I’m still waiting for a replacement regulator. At least I can speak to these people. They are helpful. Their couriers, however, have managed to collect the faulty regulator, but have failed to deliver the replacement. They message me early each morning to say there is a 24 hour delay… I’ve spent 4 days this week listening for a doorbell that never chimes.

In this world where intuition and imagination are increasingly ignored, dismissed, or undervalued, it seems that everything is now a brand.

As stated, if I had a brand advisor, this post would not make the cut. I am not a brand, there is no ‘we’, I work alone.

Why am I writing about this? I suppose it’s because successfully coaxing fire is an intermittent battle for jewellers. We all have days where the solder just won’t flow smoothly. Days when we mutter about the soldering gods not being with us. I have a friend who swears by tackling tricky soldering jobs in the morning. Me, I need to eat or have a cup of something before a complicated soldering set-up.

But it’s not all about the soldering. I need that 15cm flame to anneal or soften work-hardened metal, so that I can continue to work it and avoid metal fatigue. I can use a portable blow torch for that, but it lacks the finesse of my usual set up. Also, one of the reasons I changed torches was to avoid constant eye irritations from purely propane flames. And when you get to where I am as a maker, you no longer want to ‘make do’.

Running Totals: Time 21 days + £420 = No luck

Apparently the replacement regulator will be delivered late this afternoon…

To borrow from Instagram: #LifeOfAJeweller #LifeOfJewelry = Not all it’s cracked up to be…