Decisions, decisions, decisions!

Unpacking the text in the description of this Corvette Fordite pendant

Firstly, the text used in the description of this pendant:

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IMPORTANT!!!!!!!

The Fordite material used in this keychain is VERY RARE because it is from the Corvette plant in Bowling Green, KY. I have obtained Corvette Fordite material from two sources and can vouch 100% to its authenticity. NOTE: As far I can tell, no Fordite material has left the facility since around 2010-12. While I have a great deal of Corvette Fordite material on hand, sourcing for this material will become increasingly scarce.

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I cut and polished this Fordite pendant stone myself from a piece of rough that was similar to that shown in the last picture. This stone has a stunning multi-color woodgrain pattern, that has a nice shimmer because of the metallic colors in the layers. I cut this stone in a signature JDBL bulging square shape, and this pendant is the largest of my templated pendant bulging squares. Because the size of this pendant can also be used on my keychains, this kind of project competes with keychain production. Put simply, the material I cut this stone from could have produced two keychain stones (as my keychain stones are thinner than my pendant stones), and that would have then yielded nearly twice the revenue.

Let's unpack -

I could go very deep on the subject of availability, but suffice it to say that virtually all known Corvette Fordite material came from a single source - a former Corvette Assembly Plant worker who managed to stash away hundreds of pounds of Corvette Fordite, before making even one gram of that stash publicly available. Over the course of two years (2014-2015), I managed to acquire roughly a hundred pounds or so of this material. Then a cooperative partnership stepped in to purchase the remainder of the material, which was the lion's share of the original supply, and that was the end of availability for everyone else in my category of Fordite artisans.

Sooooo, I will likely never have access to any additional supply of Corvette Fordite. Nor, will anyone else outside of the partnership that purchased the lion's share of the material. Meaning, that every Corvette Fordite stone I cut needs to be the highest and best use of that material.

Which brings us to the decision about cutting this pendant stone, versus whatever else that same material might have become. Keychains are my second most popular category, behind pendants. So, given the necessary frontal area needed to produce one shape or another, and the additional consideration of thickness availability, as well as overall appeal of the resulting pattern, the decision begins.

Since every stone I cut is "purpose-cut", once I expose a pattern the decision about what the stone will become starts. My pictures could not possibly do this stone justice, but in person, this stone is positively gorgeous! I have found only a couple of other pieces of material with a similar woodgrain feel like this one, and those were instantly appreciated. In the end, I decided that this stone's highest and best use would be as personal ornamentation, rather than the more utilitarian function of holding someone's keys.

Of course, that means I took the hit on revenue, but it can't always be about the bottom line.

There you have it!

Thanks for visiting my shop and for reading this post. Feel free to send any comments or questions about this post, or any other Fordite related topic.

Have a great day!

Lee