About us
We are Andrea and Tibor, owners of Magic Deer Jewellery. At our studio we offer a wide range of jewellery-services, specializing in the design and creation of one-of-a-kind, custom, hand-crafted fine jewellery. We are qualified goldsmiths and jewellery designers, educated and trained in Europe. We have both received formal, two-year, full-time, post-secondary education, studying academic subjects like: History of Arts, Metallurgy, Gemmology, and taken drafting and drawing classes. The main focus of our education, however, was technical job training. After getting our diplomas we took additional courses on gemstone-setting and jewellery-appraisal as well. Having gained the required work experience we also completed a special preparatory course and examination that entitles us to proudly bear the title “Master Goldsmith”. Combined we have spent almost 30 years honing our skills and knowledge both as employees and entrepreneurs. We have worked for small businesses dealing directly with customers and for big firms manufacturing large quantities of jewellery, as well. We have designed, created, reshaped, repaired, set and sized virtually every kind of jewellery there is. Now, we would like to share some of our knowledge we have gathered along the way.
Why are we doing this? We are passionately in love with our craft, and quite unhappy with some alarming trends going on in our trade. Most of these problems are not specific to the jewellery-industry, but rather common in manufacturing. We, as consumers, seem to be almost obsessed with finding “good deals”, stretching our dollars more and more. Businesses, on the other hand, try to be competitive, so they go out of their way to cut expenses and lower prices, feeding the hunger for even ”better deals”. In order to stay competitive, nowadays many companies out-source their production, use mass-production and unskilled labour, cut every possible corner and settle for “good enough” quality, if not less. It is a slippery slope though, and once you set your foot on it, it is hard to stop. How many corners can you cut without compromising the quality and/or the practicality of a product? Do we really believe we can use lower quality materials and cheap semi-skilled labour, overly simplify production, and keep the same quality? We think not. In our opinion, shifting the attention and resources to marketing and advertising — which today often seem to be more important than the actual product or service itself — cannot and should not substitute for quality. This way customers are just tricked into buying more worthless waste such as faulty jewellery, poisonous toys, combustive batteries and other low-grade merchandise.
We encounter poorly made, sloppy jewellery, which is sometimes way overpriced, on a regular basis. Rings for thousands of dollars with fractures and loose stones after half a year in wear….Diamond jewellery sold without disclosing the real quality of the gems….“Hand-assembled” pieces that are actually low-quality castings….”Fine jewellery” made in “white” gold that is not exactly white…. Often times, when they land in our hands, all we can do is just to dismay the disillusioned owner that in fact, it was not such a “good deal” after all. We hope we can help you to make a better-informed, wiser decision by sharing some of our insight into the inner workings of the jewellery industry. We do not claim to be either impartial or inerrable. As practicing jewellers with a passionate love for the creation of hand-made, fine jewellery, we are inherently biased. Even so, we will try to be fair, factual and exact with the material we disclose on our blog. Although, the information provided here is up-to-date, precise, and dependable, it is strictly for reference. Therefore we disclaim any responsibility for damages or loss originating from these publications.