how much a goldsmith makes?

[pio]

hi all, how are you doing?

i was wondering if you could help me, i have a question..

how much money does an employed goldsmith make? considering:

-vairus good courses and a lot of practice in well equipped workshop (around 2 years) + 6 months internship in wax carving company + 1 years experience at the bench
-very good in cleaning and assembling casting
-no problem with any kind of sizing, retipping and general repair
-good ability in handmaking quite complicated jewels in any alloy, 6 month experience with platinum also.
-6 months experience with the laser.
-able to carve wax (does not happen often)
-good stone setting skill, pavè, rub over, microsetting, claw setting, not so much experience, slow, but very good result.

-small workshp located in central london

i tryed to give you as many details as i could, cuold you give me a rought idea?

thank you!

[Dennis]

Quality of work, self promotion and market forces apply. If you gather a faithful following of collectors, get pictures into posh magazines, or your work is bought by celebrities, or royalty, the world's your oyster.

[medusa]

I was really shocked to see bench jewellers advertising in bench peg magazine offering to work for £10 per hour. That just seems stupidly cheap to me.

[caroleallen]

I'm a bit embarrassed to say that that's what I pay Liz. I think it depends on the experience and skill level.

[medusa]

well it seems to be the going rate. I'm half tempted to try and outsource commissions i can't do due to (hopefully current) lack of skill and just pay someone who has spent years learning and perfecting their craft. I suppose they don't have the overheads and stuff to worry about, but for skilled work it seems crazy cheap.

None of this I suspect is terribly reassuring to Pio!

[Goldsmith]

It really depends on what type of goldsmith you are. The term goldsmith is used to describe many levels and varied skills within our trade. As Pio states he or she has only one year experience at the bench, I assume the rest of the experience is college work, so I would expect a low starting wage of around the £10 per hour mark would be a good start. As Dennis said, quality of work and a gained reputation will help increase the wage packet. The last time I was employed at a manufacturing goldsmith's company was way back in 1985, and then my hourly rate as a master goldsmith and workshop manager was circa £15 per hour.

James

[Melson]

Interesting to know! It's less than I expected actually!

[Gemsetterchris]

Not a straight forward answer to this question, though if your self employed your going to be aiming for 3 times or so what`s been stated so far.
Of course it all depends on alot of things, a regular salary can be lower but work out better in the long run, with paid holidays ect & peace of mind.
Working for yourself is a different ball game, you never know what next month is going to be like..you may earn more or less per hour on certain jobs or then you are working to someones budget in which case you have to either speed up or cut corners abit.
You need to figure out what you need to earn & try to find a balance that works.
Bit difficult to judge people just by the years in the trade, some "newbies" are talented, some "old-hands" are still rather useless, it`s the result you produce that matters.

[medusa]

if your self employed your going to be aiming for 3 times or so what`s been stated so far.

I would have thought that £25 -£35 would be more like it as well, going by what plumbers and electricians charge. On the other hand I suppose if you are only charging £10 ph, you might be more likely to get a steady stream of work in. I don't know if the guys advertising for work in Benchpeg were expecting to use their own benches (and all the consumables as well) or to 'hot bench' as it were.

[caroleallen]

It's quite difficult as the person employing those Benchpeg peeps has to also make a profit and if they're being paid £25 - £35 then there's not much margin left. The employer has all the overheads.