Working with Your Refiner

Guidelines for developing a refined relationship

 

Help Yourself by Helping the Refiner

Jewelry makers must realize that no business arrangement is one-sided. Refiners have to meet the needs of their customers to stay in business, but there are things that those customers can do to help their refiners.

Provide as much information as possible. Every lot you send to your refiner should be marked with your company name, address, phone, and primary contact information. Your refiner is willing to do many things for you, but becoming the Sherlock Holmes of hard scrap shouldn’t be one of them. Unfortunately, "phantom lots" are fairly common. (One refiner, after receiving a phantom lot with no return address and no information, tracked down the manufacturer by the hallmark on one of the rings in the shipment.)

In addition, the manufacturer should provide information about the materials: gross and net weights, container count, type of material (sweeps, polishings, kar...