Unique Spoon Ring *Please Help!*
 

My girlfriend bought a really unique spoon ring from a homeless man in
San Francisco that was actually made from the "bowl" portion of the
spoon to make a really wide full-digit ring. She had the ring for a
long time, absolutely loved it, and I don't think she ever left home
without putting it on.
Anyway, recently she accidentally flushed it down the toilet in a
public restroom and was in tears.
I have not been able to find anything like this ring anywhere, so I am
on a hunt to find someone who can create a "replica" of this ring. I
imagine it would be incredibly simple to make since it is very plain
and appears to have been a regular sterling silver spoon "bowl" that
was
pounded flat and then curved into a ladies size ring. I was going to
attempt to do this myself, but lack the tools and the know-how.

Does anybody know of someone who would be interested in taking on this
project? I would be happy to pay for the time and materials (as well
as any materials required). I also apologize if this is not the forum
to post this sort of request and would greatly appreciate some info on
where I might turn to ask my question.

If there is anybody interested in this project, I will be happy to
send a picture where you can sort of see the
ring on her hand. It's not a very good picture, but at least you can
kind of get an idea of how wide and thick the ring is.
Thanks in advance!

"J. Fehrenbach" wrote:

My girlfriend bought a really unique spoon ring from a homeless man in
San Francisco that was actually made from the "bowl" portion of the
spoon to make a really wide full-digit ring. She had the ring for a
long time, absolutely loved it, and I don't think she ever left home
without putting it on.
Anyway, recently she accidentally flushed it down the toilet in a
public restroom and was in tears.
I have not been able to find anything like this ring anywhere, so I am
on a hunt to find someone who can create a "replica" of this ring. I
imagine it would be incredibly simple to make since it is very plain
and appears to have been a regular sterling silver spoon "bowl" that
was
pounded flat and then curved into a ladies size ring. I was going to
attempt to do this myself, but lack the tools and the know-how.

Does anybody know of someone who would be interested in taking on this
project? I would be happy to pay for the time and materials (as well
as any materials required). I also apologize if this is not the forum
to post this sort of request and would greatly appreciate some info on
where I might turn to ask my question.

If there is anybody interested in this project, I will be happy to
send a picture where you can sort of see the
ring on her hand. It's not a very good picture, but at least you can
kind of get an idea of how wide and thick the ring is.
Thanks in advance!


Well,

I happen to live in San Francisco, and on my way to work, I see a street artist
from time to time on Stockton Street not far from Union Square with a display of
just such rings. He may even be the man who originally made the ring for your
friend, who knows.

I am willing to ask him how we can get your friend a new ring. For me to want
to do this, I need her finger size and the money he will charge me for this ring
plus the shipping charges from me to you. Plus mutual agreeable fee for me to
handle this.

Believe me when I say, that this will end up costing you less, than for me to
figure out how to make such a ring from a silver spoon from scratch. I know I
can figure it out, but it will probably cost at least several spoons before I
get it right the first time. And that is time and materials you would have to
pay for. The street artist knows what he is doing.

And a picture as the one you describe might also be helpful.

Let me know what you want to do.

Abrasha
http://www.abrasha.com

If you can't agree on a fee, let me know. My nephew lives in SF and would
be happy to do it for you fee free. For heaven's sake...walk past the man,
throw the money at him, put in a box in a padded envelope, put 3 stamps on
envelope, drop in mail box. Phew..handling "all that" is likely to cost a
fortune.


"Abrasha" wrote in message
...
"J. Fehrenbach" wrote:

My girlfriend bought a really unique spoon ring from a homeless man in
San Francisco that was actually made from the "bowl" portion of the
spoon to make a really wide full-digit ring. She had the ring for a
long time, absolutely loved it, and I don't think she ever left home
without putting it on.
Anyway, recently she accidentally flushed it down the toilet in a
public restroom and was in tears.
I have not been able to find anything like this ring anywhere, so I am
on a hunt to find someone who can create a "replica" of this ring. I
imagine it would be incredibly simple to make since it is very plain
and appears to have been a regular sterling silver spoon "bowl" that
was
pounded flat and then curved into a ladies size ring. I was going to
attempt to do this myself, but lack the tools and the know-how.

Does anybody know of someone who would be interested in taking on this
project? I would be happy to pay for the time and materials (as well
as any materials required). I also apologize if this is not the forum
to post this sort of request and would greatly appreciate some info on
where I might turn to ask my question.

If there is anybody interested in this project, I will be happy to
send a picture where you can sort of see the
ring on her hand. It's not a very good picture, but at least you can
kind of get an idea of how wide and thick the ring is.
Thanks in advance!


Well,

I happen to live in San Francisco, and on my way to work, I see a street
artist
from time to time on Stockton Street not far from Union Square with a
display of
just such rings. He may even be the man who originally made the ring for
your
friend, who knows.

I am willing to ask him how we can get your friend a new ring. For me to
want
to do this, I need her finger size and the money he will charge me for
this ring
plus the shipping charges from me to you. Plus mutual agreeable fee for
me to
handle this.

Believe me when I say, that this will end up costing you less, than for me
to
figure out how to make such a ring from a silver spoon from scratch. I
know I
can figure it out, but it will probably cost at least several spoons
before I
get it right the first time. And that is time and materials you would
have to
pay for. The street artist knows what he is doing.

And a picture as the one you describe might also be helpful.

Let me know what you want to do.

Abrasha
http://www.abrasha.com

lgreene wrote:

If you can't agree on a fee, let me know. My nephew lives in SF and would
be happy to do it for you fee free. For heaven's sake...walk past the man,
throw the money at him, put in a box in a padded envelope, put 3 stamps on
envelope, drop in mail box. Phew..handling "all that" is likely to cost a
fortune.


With all due respect, I do not work for free. My business is making and selling
jewelry. In this case providing the service would be a great deal less
expensive than making a new one for him, as I explained to him. My hourly rate
for commission work is $125.-. I do not customarily make ring out of old silver
spoons, if I did I would have to charge the same amount per hour if I want to
stay in business. And of course that would make these rings unsalable.

Even if I find the guy right away, I would have to go there several times, to
place the order, to pick up the ring. Than I have to pack go to UPS or the post
office. Even if everything went smoothly, it would take several hours of my
time.

You know what? Why don't you call your nephew, and have him take care of it for
this guy. I bet he would be more than thrilled to have this service done for
free by someone's nephew, who presumably knows nothing about jewelry. See if he
is even capable and/or willing to do it.

JA!

Abrasha
http://www.abrasha.com

J. Fehrenbach wrote:
...... was actually made from the "bowl" portion of the
spoon to make a really wide full-digit ring.

Interesting. Along the same vane, did anyone see the
ring Angelina Jolie wore in "Hackers"?
The thing spanned a joint, and had a hinge so that she
could still bend her finger. Kind of like one-finger armor.
Cyberpunk aesthetic of the '90s as interpreted by moviemakers.
The movie so severely insulted hackers that the movie's site was
actually cracked-into and defaced.
--
cheers, m at mbstevens.com

On Thu, 08 Jan 2004 18:42:09 -0800, in rec.crafts.jewelry "lgreene"
wrote:

If you can't agree on a fee, let me know. My nephew lives in SF and would
be happy to do it for you fee free. For heaven's sake...walk past the man,
throw the money at him, put in a box in a padded envelope, put 3 stamps on
envelope, drop in mail box. Phew..handling "all that" is likely to cost a
fortune.

It's just time, of course. But I'd have to say that at least IMHO, Abrasha is
not in the least bit out of line to expect to be paid at least a modest fee, or
commission, for going to the trouble to take care of this. While such errands
sound, and are simple enough, when actually done, it can easily add up to an
hour or two, what with time communicating with the client, then having to find
the seller again in the first place, locate a suitable replacement ring, and
bother with the mailing. Sure, it may not sound like tons of work, but I'd be
surprised if in the end it takes less than two hours of his time. And even
padded envelopes cost money. Should he do that for a total stranger, not one
likely to ever be a customer, personal friend, or otherwise closer than a total
stranger, for free? Especially considering that the business concerns jewelry,
and Abrasha is a professional in the jewelery field? If you go to a
legal/lawyers newsgroup and ask for a bit of help filing some simple court
documents somewhere, and some lawyer mentions they work near that court and
could handle the filing for you, do you think THAT would be free too? Not
likely. And nowhere in Abrasha's offer, or reply to the above post, did he
say it would be a fortune. All he said was "mutually agreed upon fee." What
could be fairer. If the guy looking for the ring is impoverished enough that
such a fee is a problem, he's free to ask for a discount, or even some free
help, and then Abrasha is free, if he wishes, to either do it or decline. No
problem. The asumption implied in the above post that this is somehow out of
line seems to me to itself be a bit self rightious, and oblivious to the nature,
economics, and conventions of normal business practice.

And while we're at it, does this nephew who'd be so happy to do this for free
yet know about his generous offer? And would he, if he weren't eager to jump
through these hoops, also for an unknown total stranger in a different city,
feel free enough with his aunt or uncle who'd already made the offer of his
help, to then decline to do it? Hmmm.

Just my late night two cents..

Peter

"lgreene" wrote in message
...
If you can't agree on a fee, let me know. My nephew lives in SF and would
be happy to do it for you fee free. For heaven's sake...walk past the
man,
throw the money at him, put in a box in a padded envelope, put 3 stamps on
envelope, drop in mail box. Phew..handling "all that" is likely to cost a
fortune.



Hmmm. I knew that, sooner or later, someone would "tramp on his organ"
about Abrasha's offer without knowing even a trifle of knowledge about who
Abrasha is. That Abrasha would even make the offer to help a total unknown
speaks worlds about who he is, and then taking the trouble to detail the
reason he asks for a "mutual agreeable fee" speaks even better for his
character.

On the other hand your "trip" speaks quite a lot about who you are. I
suggest you read a lot and speak only a little until you have processed
enough information that your impulsive reaction might be modified by the
reality. Your first sentence notwithstanding, the rest of your missive is a
mistake.

--
Don Thompson

"The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before
them, glory and danger alike, and notwithstanding go out to meet it."-
Thucydides

"Men are never really willing to die except for the sake of Freedom:
Therefore they do not believe in dying completely."-
Albert Camus

"Peter W. Rowe" wrote:


It's just time, of course. But I'd have to say that at least IMHO, Abrasha is
not in the least bit out of line to expect to be paid at least a modest fee, or
commission, for going to the trouble to take care of this. While such errands
sound, and are simple enough, when actually done, it can easily add up to an
hour or two, what with time communicating with the client, then having to find
the seller again in the first place, locate a suitable replacement ring, and
bother with the mailing. Sure, it may not sound like tons of work, but I'd be
surprised if in the end it takes less than two hours of his time. And even
padded envelopes cost money. Should he do that for a total stranger, not one
likely to ever be a customer, personal friend, or otherwise closer than a total
stranger, for free? Especially considering that the business concerns jewelry,
and Abrasha is a professional in the jewelery field? If you go to a
legal/lawyers newsgroup and ask for a bit of help filing some simple court
documents somewhere, and some lawyer mentions they work near that court and
could handle the filing for you, do you think THAT would be free too? Not
likely. And nowhere in Abrasha's offer, or reply to the above post, did he
say it would be a fortune. All he said was "mutually agreed upon fee." What
could be fairer. If the guy looking for the ring is impoverished enough that
such a fee is a problem, he's free to ask for a discount, or even some free
help, and then Abrasha is free, if he wishes, to either do it or decline. No
problem. The asumption implied in the above post that this is somehow out of
line seems to me to itself be a bit self rightious, and oblivious to the nature,
economics, and conventions of normal business practice.

And while we're at it, does this nephew who'd be so happy to do this for free
yet know about his generous offer? And would he, if he weren't eager to jump
through these hoops, also for an unknown total stranger in a different city,
feel free enough with his aunt or uncle who'd already made the offer of his
help, to then decline to do it? Hmmm.

Just my late night two cents..

Peter


You should have read the private "friendly" email he sent me. He knew you would
not let it pass in the forum, so he chose to send his bile directly to me.

And oh yes, he claims to be a lawyer who does a lot of "pro bono" work, which
based on the tone of his note to me does not surprise me, because he cannot
possibly find any paying customers.

BTW, I have not found the spoon ring maker yet. He was not in his usual spot
yesterday.
--
Abrasha
http://www.abrasha.com

On Fri, 09 Jan 2004 08:39:02 GMT, m
wrote:

J. Fehrenbach wrote:
...... was actually made from the "bowl" portion of the
spoon to make a really wide full-digit ring.

Interesting. Along the same vane, did anyone see the
ring Angelina Jolie wore in "Hackers"?
The thing spanned a joint, and had a hinge so that she
could still bend her finger. Kind of like one-finger armor.
Cyberpunk aesthetic of the '90s as interpreted by moviemakers.
The movie so severely insulted hackers that the movie's site was
actually cracked-into and defaced.

These are more goth than cyberpunk. They're widely available on the
web -- here, for instance (no relationship to the seller, just the
first thing that came up on Google):

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=2880518682

--
Marilee J. Layman

"Don T" wrote in message
...
"lgreene" wrote in message
...
If you can't agree on a fee, let me know. My nephew lives in SF and
would
be happy to do it for you fee free. For heaven's sake...walk past the
man,
throw the money at him, put in a box in a padded envelope, put 3 stamps
on
envelope, drop in mail box. Phew..handling "all that" is likely to cost
a
fortune.



Hmmm. I knew that, sooner or later, someone would "tramp on his organ"
about Abrasha's offer without knowing even a trifle of knowledge about who
Abrasha is. That Abrasha would even make the offer to help a total unknown
speaks worlds about who he is, and then taking the trouble to detail the
reason he asks for a "mutual agreeable fee" speaks even better for his
character.

On the other hand your "trip" speaks quite a lot about who you are. I
suggest you read a lot and speak only a little until you have processed
enough information that your impulsive reaction might be modified by the
reality. Your first sentence notwithstanding, the rest of your missive is
a
mistake.

Sorry, wrong answer. I know exactly who he is. I have been on this ng for
quite some time, and his opinion of himself and the value of his "advice"
seems to be overrated.

As I told him offline, I am an attorney who bills more an hour as an
attorney than he does as a jeweler, and though I am not required to , I
continue to do pro bono work, because sometimes, people just need a
favor...just need some help...can't afford, can't do, WHATever. I don't
pull a "holier than thou" attitude with them..I do the work if it is within
my power.

And to his message, my nephew is actually a jeweler and gemologist who also
believes that sometimes good karma gets sent out into the world and comes
back multiplied. Not necessarily to the sender ,but to others who need it.

You all need to stop thinking that the world begins and ends with ourselves,
and sometimes, stop being legends in our own minds.

Your suggestions will not be taken. My missive is not a mistake, but
evidently being on this group is. And I am not the first who has had to
read and listen to the attitudes that Abrasha is some type of god in the
world of jewelry. He is not. His work is lovely, it is appreciated, but it
is not umparalleled.

Sheesh.