You're probably a goldsmith. Without knowing.

This snippet of text from the Jewelry Artist Newsletter reminded me of a discussion I had quite a while ago, where I was trying to convince someone that they were actually a GOLDsmith - not a silversmith. It was quite amusing, and pretty confusing.

I'm sure you'll find this interesting, I was very surprised when I first heard this. But I still don't feel comfortable calling myself a goldsmith...

"Goldsmith or Silversmith?

This is a test. It is only a test. I am often amused at what people say they are when describing the kind of jewelry they make. Consider this:

You’ve never touched gold (except at the jewelry store), never intend to, and you fabricate all of your jewelry pieces out of copper and brass sheet. What are you? A goldsmith.

You fabricate all of your jewelry pieces out of sterling silver and gemstones. What are you? A goldsmith.

You fabricate all of your jewelry pieces out of platinum, or mokumé gané, shibuichi, niobium, keum-boo, stainless steel, rusted old car parts, aluminum, or titanium or all of the above. What are you? A goldsmith.

You make large, hollowform serving pieces and tableware and objects of art out of sterling silver, by raising, sinking, shell forming, and large scale fabrication. What are you? A silversmith.

In metalsmithing, object scale and function describe the smith, not the type of metal they use. So, if you fabricate jewelry out of metal, you are not a silversmith, you are a goldsmith, loud and proud."