Where Will It Stop?

Five years ago when I started my journey into the world of jewelry design, my first metal of choice was sterling silver. At first it was just findings, then I starting using various gauges of wire as I explored making my own findings and components. It wasn't long before I took the plunge into forging sheet sterling...I have loved sterling all along, it was my metal of choice prior to my foray into creating my own designs, I have been collecting and wearing sterling silver jewelry most of my life, but when I started hammering it, heating it up to make it easier to transform it, applying textures, connecting multiple pieces to create a singular design, creating dimension, manipulating and morphing it, I knew that it would be a life long love affair.

Ah, but now this magnificently malleable metal has risen in price from around $8.00 an ounce, when I started, to very soon to be $50.00 an ounce...well it already has if you consider cutting charges, etc. Prognosticators are hedging that we won't see the brakes applied anytime soon...hitting $100.00 an ounce is considered to be a certainty by many. What is a jewelry artist to do?

This jewelry artist will never forsake silver...but its rise to "precious metal" price levels has certainly given me reason to reconsider how I move forward in this affair...I will definitely need to look closely at how and what I choose to create. It will require fabrication and finishing methods and techniques that I have become more than proficient at to ensure that I am able to impart each piece with the highest level of craftsmanship...the level of craftsmanship that my affection requires I give to this precious metal and to the discriminating collectors of handmade artisan crafted silver jewelry that deserve nothing less.

So where do you think this wheel of fortune will stop? Up and up she goes where she stops...does anyone know?