Who makes jewelry for the big retailers?

[Aurarius]

It's possibly a naive question with either a very easy or no easy answer, but does anyone have any idea who makes jewelry for Argos, H.Samuel, Beaverbrooks, Goldsmiths et al? I'm guessing that they may use different manufacturers for different parts of their range, but is most of the work done overseas now, and if so where? And if a customer buys a ring from them and requests it to be resized before taking it away, or a customer goes to them wanting some kind of repair, who do they give the work to then? Will they all have an in-house team that does this kind of work or do they routinely out-source it, and if so to whom?

[CJ57]

I'm not sure is if anyone will be able to answer you as we are mostly designer jewellers who make and sell our own. I would imagine that the places you mention source their jewellery from abroad as cheaply as possible
Argos I would think would be an even cheaper option than the others you mention and do they provide a repair service I would think they just refund or replace.
I must admit I've never bought from any of them so can't help you.
If you are making yourself can I ask why the interest in who stocks those stores?

[Aurarius]

I know that a few years ago Argos did provide a resizing service for customers who had bought from them. I don't know what the situation is now. I don't imagine they ever offered a general repair service.

If you are making yourself can I ask why the interest in who stocks those stores?

I'm interested in understanding more about the world of jewelry manufacturing in all its guises, from the lone artisan to the large-scale production line. Since the people who make jewelry for the big retailers dominate the trade in economic terms, knowing who these companies are and how they work seems to me fundamental to getting a better perspective on the jewelry market as a whole.

[Dennis]

Competition is fierce and companies guard their sources. There is no way that you will get your answers on an open forum.

You can only speculate that low prices are achieved by high volumes, produced in near-slavery conditions in far off places, using the thinnest possible materials and minimal design content. But then you probably worked that out for yourself.

Still, I hope you won't be put off by my rant. We love controversy. Welcome to the forum. Dennis.

[ps_bond]

If you go along to IJL (or, I assume, the Spring Fair at the NEC) you'll see a lot of larger manufacturers of finished jewellery. I'm told IJL has a lot of corporate buyers attend, so you'd be seeing the same sources as they do. It's not all doom & gloom on the UK front though - there are companies like Domino who produce semi-set and fully finished pieces that are significantly higher quality than the cheap sources, but I doubt you'd find them in any of the pile-em-high stores (although you will find their designs in some high street jewellers).

[Aurarius]

Thanks for the responses. The existence of companies like Domino is heartening; I'd hoped there might be enterprises of that kind in existence. Presumably if their designs are found in some high street jewellers, this means the retailers in question are giving Domino their business, and not filching their designs photographically or otherwise at trade fairs and then getting replicas made in the Far East or India.
As for the pile-em-high stores, I notice that Argos do what they call the "Made for You" range of rings, which are described as "hand finished". Prices for solitaire rings in this range go up to £2600. Could anyone shed some light on the quality of these, relatively speaking? Presumably the hike in price over their standard range is not just attributable to more exclusive design and a better calibre of diamond. Will the soldering, setting and finishing work be of a noticeably higher standard as well, and, if so, how high?

[pearlescence]

It the jewellery exhibitions in Hong Kong there are many manufacturers, aircraft hangers of them, offering work of all qualities from Ratner to high end. A poke around Alibaba will also inform on the Chinese (and to a lesser extent the Indian) manufacturing industry.
Most of these chains buy in in a deal which requires the manufacturer to make loads of the item while they can return them if unsold. There's still likely to be marking up at each stage of the process.
I know I keep banging on about him but one reason why Steve Bennett has been successful is that he has cut out the in between people in the supply chain and does it all in house (apart from the ring sizing which he does outsource I think)
Hand finished probably means someone gives it a rub-over with a polishing cloth (#cynical)

[surfergirl]

I vaguely remember Argos hosting an event targeted at UK handmade jewellery designers a couple of years ago with the intention of finding new talent and selling their collections. I’m not sure what came of that.

[metalsmith]

The mrs picked up an argos catalog recently which I've been stealthily moving towards the recycling bin. However (I admit I looked) - its fair to say - there are a couple of artisans selling stock there.

[Gemsetterchris]

There is a company in Essex called makermends that fixes /alters bucketloads of such work daily.