Gyrogami Blog - Precious Metals, Jewelry, Artwork

Experience Matters...Sometimes

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Categories: Experiences and daily life; Human nature

Word count/read time: 512 words; 2 minutes

First things first: Talent and skill are two different animals. Talent is something you are born with, like an aptitude. Skill is a manifestation of talent, what you've learned, how you apply it, and what comes of it, i.e. what you produce. "Years of experience" is a meaningless number. In essence, the most experienced, skilled, and talented people are quite capable of making low-quality stuff.

Far too many people rely on experience as a testament to their skill or talent. They erroneously believe more experience translates into higher quality goods but that is a fallacy. While good talkers, doing good is not in their vocabulary.

People often ask how long I've been doing this. What they mean by "doing this" is much more complex. The simple answer is that it's taken my whole life to get here. If they want to know how long I've been making jewelry, it's easier to answer but no less nebulous. Long enough to know that I have much more to learn and lots of room for improvement. Same with all my metalworking.

Does it really matter how long, or do customers want reassurances they will be getting high-quality products made by someone who's passionate about the craft? I've been doing it long enough that how long has become irrelevant. Almost from the beginning my chains would convince you that they were made by a master craftsman, yet their quality still improves because I relentlessly pursue excellence.

Learning widens the gap between what you know and the enormity of what there is to know, i.e. what you don't know. Sometimes it feels like I am going backward instead of forward!

There are few high-quality handmade chains in the marketplace. As such, sellers misconstrue any "compliment" as fact even when it comes from a random joe who knows nothing about jewelry. False praise begins a vicious circle. Lacking the ability to be objective regarding your own goods has nothing to do with experience because lots of experience often clouds the truth.

Likewise, sellers ignore difficult questions or unflattering observations when they have something to hide. For a craft as simplistic as chainmaking - open ring, insert it, close it - measurements, science, and physics 100% prove what's good and what's not. You can see a prime example of experience with no talent or skill but lots of lies here.

Everyone thinks they are the cat's meow, highlighting why the Dunning Kruger effect thrives in the chainmaille community. It's a giant echo chamber that does not improve the art or weed out the shady activities and players so ingrained within it. Mediocrity is praised and celebrated because that is the norm.

Legitimate criticism helps me improve most. I welcome a difficult conversation that enlightens me when it is based on facts. But when the best argument someone has is that I don't close my rings properly and they have gaps...where are the gaps when rings are fusion welded seamlessly and invisibly across the entire joint and the ring is still perfectly round? Those conversations are not going to happen.

Posted by M: January 6, 2022

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