The following essay is research report based on the topic jewel production. Jewel is regarded as a luxury yet its demand and value has always made jewels to be one of the most expensive products. The more expensive jewellery is the more it is demanded.
This makes jewel production to be a worthwhile aspect of study because production of jewel is of interest not only to the consumers but also to the economy of a country at large. Jewel production is complex because the raw materials, which make the jewel, are usually obtained from expensive metals and precious stones most of which are not readily available.
Literature Review. This part of literature review will examine various aspects of a jewel and what makes an item a jewel as well as how jewel are produced since time immemorial and what appraises the value of a particular jewel. The first aspect for examination is that of defining what a jewel is. A jewel is any item used for the purpose of adornment other than clothing. One can wear it on the face, ear, hand, legs, and other exposed parts of the body (Borel 12).
Production of jewels has been in existence in any economy even in Stone Age as it is today in the digital age. This means that it is an important aspect of human life and is associated with many factors, which makes it relevant to people according to their preferences. Many people use jewellery as status symbols because of its value and the cost of purchasing it is high (Borel 17).
The other part of the literature review will deal with the production economies that are involved in production of jewellery. Just like any other industry, jewel production has its methodology and economies that ensure profit making within the industry. These economies deal with the four aspects of production, which includes labor, land, capital as well as entrepreneurship (Karen & Nejat 22).
Labor is very important in jewellery production and it is a driving force in which the efficiency and the quality of the jewel is based. Labor entitles having a skilled workforce to work in the different areas of jewel industry. This workforce branches into four major fields, which exist in making of jewels.
The first one is extraction of raw materials from the land or mining. Mining of gold, silver, and other precious stones and elements is part of jewel production. Jewels originate from minerals and stones which act as raw materials.
Skilled miners are therefore important in bringing the raw materials to the market. The other skilled labourer needed for the success of jewel production is the fireplace expert. Kilning is the process in which the raw materials melt into liquid.
This molten form of the raw materials either mixes with other materials or purifies them. The kilning process needs a fireplace expert who is capable of handling high temperatures in a controlled manner (Evans 99).
Moulders are useful in jewel making and their work is to mould the jewel into different sizes and forms. There are engravers whose work is to engrave art or writings on the jewel. Packaging of the jewel is also an important part of jewel making. Contribution of the labourers is critical which involves activities such as finishing, and fitting as well as ensuring that the jewels are attractive.
The other major aspect of jewellery production involves land as a factor of jewel production economics. It is worth noting that jewellery is a by-product of raw materials mined from the land. The mine economy therefore has a direct influence on the price and the cost of jewel. When the prices of the raw materials are low, the cost of production decreases, which leads to increase in profit margin (Evans 81).
The production of jewellery also demands intense use of capital. Capital refers to the equipment, machinery, and the factory, involved in production of the jewellery. The equipment involved in jewellery production include a fireplace, kilning equipment and electrodes for coating and finishing in moulding the jewel into the final product as well as Engraving equipment.
Cooling facilities are used to maintain room temperature as the place may be too hot for survival of human beings. Large amount of capital is required to ensure success in jewellery production (Evans 54).
The enterprise is a resource and a major factor in jewel production. The enterprise in this case involves the form of business unit whether it is a partnership, a sole proprietorship, a private limited company, or a public corporation.
This affects the costs of production in terms of taxation, which depend on the type of enterprise. Enterprise also includes the brand name, and other copyrighted artistic forms. This is because a jewel company may copyright its art and obtain loyalties from companies wishing to use the art or moulds (Tait 29).
Most of the jewel production companies use the just in time production formula whereby they make jewels as per the orders and demands of the customers.
This is because the raw materials used in production are very expensive such as gold, silver and diamond and the companies fear producing too much of it. This ensures that there is no excess stock and that they have used the job order costing process.
The JIT method enables the companies to focus their attention in production of quality jewels rather than products for mass consumption. Most of the jewels making companies display moulds of their jewels for the customers to see.
When the customer appreciates or is satisfied with that mould then he or she goes ahead and makes an order for the jewel with a particular deadline of the collection date. The company goes ahead and makes the jewel for the customer.
This saves the company from having excess stock, which may take too long to sell. In addition, the company resources for investment are saved and there is no dead stock. However, it is risky because failure to deliver the product on time leads to loss of customers (Evans 56).
Financing of the production process is vital in jewel production process as the raw materials used are very expensive. This requires the jewel production company to have several sources of capital to avoid insolvency or bankruptcy.
These methods maintain proper gear ratios so that the output ratio to input ratio indicate efficiency. This is important in ensuring that the company qualifies for long-term loans from the government. Shareholders contributions are also important because some of the profit reinvestments shield the company from unprecedented rises in cost of raw materials.
The advanced technology has increased competition from new entrants and this has seen proliferation of markets with jewelleries. Although they are still in demand, the buyers have several choices to make thereby creating need for the jewellery manufacturers to look for ways of branding their jewelleries as well as marketing them to the masses.
This has not been easy but some manufactures have still thrived through sponsorships and creating celebrities and entertainers who put on their jewelleries. This has increased the demand of certain jewelleries especially those made from a peculiar art, which makes it resemble those worn by the entertainers.
Gaps in this Study. Much of the existing literature in jewellery production is based on the historical aspects of jewellery production rather than on the production mechanisms and details, which are involved in jewellery. The following are the gaps in the existing literature in the production of jewellery (Creswell 36).
The first gap is that the existing literature does not give exact requirements and details of production. These details such as mixtures used when making alloys are critical in production of jewellery.
This is because they affect the costs of raw materials. Lack of proper information on the amount of raw materials needed in this production may lead to use of figures, which may not balance, as they are lower than the cost of production.
The existing literature does not divulge other details of jewellery production, which are critical in the production of process such as the amount of employees needed in the process of producing gold. This is because without proper details of the labour estimates and their effect on the prices of these materials there is likelihood of underestimating the costs of labour.
Either this will have adverse effects on the final price of the jewellery by pushing the price too high or by lowering the thereby affecting; the profit margins (Creswell 26).
The literature does not provide the specific time required in the production of gold, or any other jewellery, which is very important and helpful in determining the process of production. The literature also does not provide detailed discussion of the processes involved in the production of jewelleries such as kilning, and moulding and the influence of each process on the final product.
Though the literature tells us the prices of different jewelleries depending on different materials used there are no details of how the materials processed into the final product. The processes such as those of making the alloys and the type of elements, which make this alloys misses out in this literature (Creswell 33).
The existing literature is also silent on the contribution of the jewellery industry to the economy. This is also an important industry like banking, tourism or manufacturing. It certainly contributes to different economies that provide the raw materials such as the precious metals and those, which are involved in the processing of the final products (Tait 42).
Research Methodology. This report will adopt the following research methodologies to fill in the existing gaps in the study of jewellery production. The first research methodology necessary to make the report a success is that the research used the qualitative research method to acquire the necessary qualitative information which is missing.
The qualitative research will use the questionnaires to identify the missing links from the previous studies done on the production of jewelleries. The questionnaires will be taken to various organizations, which are in the manufacture of jewelleries.
There will be need to identify at least one thousand jewellery manufacturing companies. To make this process easier these companies will be from internet sources and their websites and emails identified.
The next step will be sampling the companies so that the data may represent jewellery production companies from different countries. Since the data will not be based on the whole world, the scope of this research will be limited in terms of the scope. This means that the scope will deal specifically with Europe.
After reducing the scope of the research the next step will be in sampling the companies. Random sampling method will be used where companies will be selected for the sampling. One hundred out of the one thousand jewellery-manufacturing companies will qualify.
Once the selection is over, the next step will be ensuring that they receive the questionnaire. The questionnaire will go to the recipients through email, as this is the most appropriate method and the quickest way to get feedback.
The questionnaire will have two kinds of questions; the open-ended questions, which will deal with the views, and the close-ended question where a specific answer is required. The questionnaires will have questions on the number of employees involved in the production process as well as the numbers of processes involved in production.
The questionnaire will endeavour to look into the profits made by the company among other details. From the questionnaire, also details of the materials used to make alloys will be provided (James 9).
This research will also deal with the kind of marketing strategy and brand promotion techniques, which jewellery producers are putting in place to cope with the increased competition and decline in value of jewellery made of the traditional materials. This is very important because without proper marketing strategy the producer may find the work being unprofitable (Guba 19).
The research will look into the influence of location in the production of jewellery. Does location make the production cheaper or expensive? This aspect requires scrutiny because labour in some countries is cheaper and in other countries it is expensive. This will be included in the questionnaire (Patton 18).
To ensure that the product manager does not ignore the questionnaire, incentives will be given to the recipient, once he or she provides the feedback within the stipulated time. The time stipulated will be two weeks to ensure the results are processed in time.
The research will also use the qualitative methodology to acquire more information to fill the existing gaps. The qualitative methodology will adopt the use of face-to-face interview with the producers of the jewelleries to obtain information regarding the processing and sale of the jewelleries.
Periodical visit to one of the manufacturing companies will also be considered important. These research methodologies are necessary in filling the gaps identified from previous studies in jewellery production (Creswell 21).
Hypothesis. Jewellery production is a traditional art which if blended with the current technology and proper result oriented brand development and promotion can be very profitable and rewarding. These rewards will especially accrue when the jewellery maker utilizes the economies of scale in production, low costs of labour and proper promotion to maximize profit.
This research will thereby benefit the manufacturers and the people who are involved in the jewellery industry. In addition, it affects other parts of the economy especially the ones involved in the production of raw materials such as gold, diamond and silver, which are some of the valuables used in jewellery making. Proper organization will certainly make the production of jewels less costly.
Conclusion
The study of jewellery production is one of the areas, which has limited concentrated studies when one compares it with other fields such as science. This may be because production of this precious jewels and pieces of adornment belonged to an elite class of people who worked hard to ensure that this art is not for everyone otherwise it would make their products lose value.
Even in savage society, the art of blacksmithing using iron was a preserve of the blacksmith and his family. Even in Europe, the Masonry groups branded so, because of their secretive ways, which they adopted to protect the knowledge they had from the common person.
These are the reasons why this was not possible for mass production of precious jewels in the past. However, technology and science have reversed this order and provided opportunity to everyone who has capital and the will to venture into jewellery making with the opportunity to do so.
Gant chart
The processes chart
Works Cited
Borel, Fredrick. The Splendour of Ethnic Jewellery: From the Colette and Jean-Pierre Gisela Collection. New York: H.N. Abram’s, 1994. Print
Creswell, John. Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. California: Sage Publications, 2003. Print
Evans, John. Jewellery Economics 1100–1870. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989. Print
Guba, Ellen. Fourth Generation Evaluation. California: Sage Publications, 1989. Print.
James, Elias. Action Research for Business, Nonprofits, and Public Administration – A Tool for Complex Times. California: Thousand Oaks, 2011. Print
Karen, Rhea and Nejat, Nemet. The Art of Jewellery Making. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1998. Print.
Patton, Martin. Qualitative Research & Evaluation Methods (third edition). California: Sage Publications, 2002. Print.
Tait, Henry. Economies of Jewellery Production. London: British Museum Publications, 1986. Print