Look For Silver Lining

Silversmiths have heated, hammered, cooled, buffed, polished and showcased the malleable metal for centuries. Far from a dying breed, American silversmiths are catering to a renewed appreciation for one-of-a-kind pieces.

“We are still going strong,” said Jeffrey Herman, founder and executive director of the Society of American Silversmiths in Cranston, R.I.

Herman says his greatest challenge is encouraging young silversmiths to operate in a more businesslike manner.

“A lot of young people coming out of design school don’t have a sense of what the market needs,” said Herman, who founded the 75-member society in 1989. “They don’t have any business background.”

Art college professors don’t teach any business skills because they are blessed with a teaching salary and benefits, he said. In their protected environment, they don’t have to market their products to the real world. They focus more on design than manufacturing techniques; they don’t explain to students the importance of having a nice business card and dressing up for an interview with a client.

“In these changing times, you can’t work by candlelight anymore,” said Herman, who specializes in restoring antique silver. “Going into the next century, silversmiths will have to have fax machines.”

Herman is pushing his colleagues into the 21st century; the society has a Web site - http://www.ids.net/slvrsmth/sashome.htm. The site features upcoming exhibits, scanned photos of members’ work and educational seminars.

He said modern silversmiths are being forced to be more versatile; some work for big silver companies, others design, restore and repair objects. Many silversmiths make a living selling jewelry, not big pieces.

“Everyone needs a piece of jewelry, but not everyone needs a tea set or trophy,” said Herman, who supplements his income by selling a line of silver care products and publishing a silver care guide.

“There’s no shortage of work out there, it’s just a matter of being able to dig for it,” said Herman, adding that silversmiths charge $15 to $50 an hour for their skills.

One challenge is that silversmiths compete with ceramic and glass artists for homeowners’ dollars. Herman said people wrongly believe silver requires a lot of polishing, but if properly treated with tarnish protector, it only has to be cleaned once or twice a year.

Although people like to look at modern silver, at a recent Society-sponsored exhibit in Beverly Hills, only one piece out of 100 was sold.

While she doesn’t yet belong to Herman’s group, Manhattan silversmith Ludmilla Baczynsky is following his advice. She has both a fax machine and a computer in her Upper East Side gallery.

Baczynsky, who gave up medical school to become a silversmith, designs, manufactures and sells upscale holloware and jewelry. She learned her craft at an art school in Antwerp, Belgium. She later spent four years as an apprentice to a master silversmith who served the Belgian royal family.

“My greatest challenge is to let people know that fine silversmithing exists and is as good as it used to be 100 years ago,” said Baczynsky.

A year ago, after working at another gallery, she opened her own business in an elegant brownstone. In addition to displaying her own work, she represents other artists, taking a 50 percent commission on sales. To help cover the $5,000 monthly rent, she rents the back of her gallery to other artists for events and exhibits. In 1996, she covered all her expenses and broke even.

Baczynsky is a true solo entrepreneur, dividing her time between running the gallery, making jewelry and promoting her work. A skilled designer, she hires other silversmiths to execute her larger pieces. Her sleek “floating” silver bowl, inset with lapis lazuli, takes about two months to complete and sells for $6,000. Her smaller pieces and one-of-a-kind jewelry retail for much less.

Her ideal clients are wealthy collectors who buy one-of-a-kind silver pieces for themselves and their homes.

Baczynsky said the techniques used by silversmiths haven’t changed for centuries. “They are very simple in theory, but it takes years to be able to use them,” she said.

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