4.09.2012

Annoying

Well. where should I begin..   I know I am from Hong Kong, so my work can be easily confused with those produced by China factory , especially the shoe I made as well as my bamboo Hoops. Being annoyed by those misconception, I decided to clarify everything here, and explain the reason why my work is much different, more importantly, much better. 




First please look at this Hello Kitty iphone case from a US site, it is selling at appx $190.For sure this is a phone case  MADE IN CHINA, mass production of factory, tho handmade but lost the meaning of handmade as all handmade goods are supposed to be delicate, otherwise whats the point of using man hand instead of machine. the only reason is that hands can do work which machine cannot!!! The case is surely  made with  the China crystal. Here we don't talk about the quality of the crystals but later. I wanna bring your attention to the craftsmanship. What do you think about the strassing? Don't you see there is lots of space between? You see the gap?it looks like they are using crystals that are too big to cut cost. And there is hardly any outline of neatness of crystals, even the kitty face is kinda weird when you compare its face to the ORIGINAL SANRIO one?  TI never meant to attack my competitor  but I just want to state why it does not worth $190 with evidence. 


Below is a similar hello Kitty 3D iphone case made by me. Tell the difference? I wouldn't say I make it super good like no other but at least the crystal placed in an even way and make a seamless surface!  I am very confident to say that  the Kitty face detail look much nicer and more accurate. It doesn't look like any Replica alike products.  I know some china factory which produce those cheap looking phone case. Indeed I once want to set up my workshop there but I didn't as I do not wanna make any mass produced cheap looking bling.  Of course, those factory produced bling have a much competitive price than mine,  which I can never offer. And they are produced in a much more effective manner than me. But please understand that all quality and delicate goods take time , man made goods is supposed to be time consuming to create.   Just like judith leiber's clutch  which are definitely pieces of art, and we will never see such goods produced in China factory , sloppy mass production way. 


Apart from the phone case, please also look at the bamboo Hoop earrings. Above is  a pair that selling on a US site at $40. Again, I can confirm that this is imported from China factory. Why? Cant you see how messy the crystals? Lots of gaps, and super uneven.  The strassing of the hoops is so sloppy that I'm baffled to think people actually pay for this, Tho this only costs $40. There doesnt seem to be any sort of outline pattern for neatness.

And these are made by me:  


  Your thought please?  please do not get me wrong dat I am not saying that I am the top quality and sth super special. No i never meant to. I Just try to explain  how my work is different than those found on Alibaba or iOFFER. I can guarantee you that all my goods are made with good craftsmanship, seamless surface and neat manner of strassing , that worth what you pay.  And I use the glue distributed by Swarovski which specialized for Jewelry making.  I am sure no one want to carry anything cheap- looking goods.  After all, which strassing is way better?isnt it WORTH TO PAY $30-40 MORE TO GET A BETTER one?

Strassing is not as easy as it is seen. It requires pain-taking effort , and of course, lots of time.  It still takes me 2 hours to strass a pair of 4" bamboo hoops , 8-12 hours for a pair of 6" daffodile regardless of my 5 years experiece in strassing. Here I means strassing with quality,  making delicate and detailed design, Not in a sloppy ugly manner. And that does not include the time spend on preparation, and aftermaths when the bling is done. 


I definitely know it is easy to find a much cheaper bling than me on Alibaba or iOFFER and many more. yet,  I can guarantee that all my products are 100% good quality craftsmanship! I pay lots of attention to detail. THo you pay more, you will receive sth with good quality which  cannot be found from  those selling on ALIBABA. What's more is that  even those companies from China, as well as Sites from US such as Kollada dot com copied my photos without my permission as if their own. 

For those who are looking for cheap bling, go to somewhere else please. I just cannot sacrifice the quality of my work, and the joy I gained from making beautiful bling for the price sake.
And I am very confident in my price. Many of my competitors, surely they also make very good quality bling. Yet they are charging nearly $1000 for strassing a pair of daffodile or a Macbook case.  I I just charge 50% of their fee, or maybe even less.Since I am from Hong Kong ,my effort is  easily to be labeled as cheap labor no matter how pain taking or time consuming it is.  I do not have the power / advantages to set my price list as high as my competitors. Still, 

Please respect my work and my effort. 

2 comments:

  1. I feel the same way you do. I hate when someone admires my work but when I state the price they begin to act like I don't put a lot of time and effort into what I do. I would love to buy from one day. Keep up the great work.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm really glad you said something! I'm a decoden artist and I get asked the same questions or bugged by people who don't want to pay for the craftsmanship. I have also seen a lot of people using your work as their own on websites... Kollada.com is just one of them <_< and I'm super annoyed becuase I admire your work and you should be getting full credit. Continue doing what you do and your skill and quality will always be what sets you apart - you're a true professional and I strongly admire you for it. ~ Sonja Sky www.mytimeissweet.com

    ReplyDelete