Sometimes a sketch of jewelry looks balanced and good on the page, but it would look strange if the jewelry were life-size. The shape that looks fine and attractive on the pendant might be too large and sit too low on the collarbone. The motif for the bracelet might look delicate and cute in a sketch when it is zoomed in, but when the pattern is repeated around the wrist it might lose its effect. The shape of the earrings might look fine or cool but they would look too big if the scale of the drop, of the size of the bead, and of details in the metal were not considered.
Scale refers to the relationship of the parts of the design and the part of the body where the design would go. For a beginner in jewelry design, scale is easy to forget because sketch books can be manipulated to whatever one needs. One could draw the concept for a ring on half of a page or one could make an earring fit the whole square. This is useful when playing around with concepts but it can make practicalities like balance, weight, drape, and positioning of the clasp difficult to judge.
When it comes to earrings, scale becomes important not only for weight, it also impacts whether they appear balanced or not. A small stud with a big gemstone on it would look fine since they would be located near your ear. However, the longer the earring, the more attention would need to be paid to the overall size. When the larger bead is at the bottom it can look as though the earring is being dragged down. When the design is too large at the top of the earring it could become hard to know whether to look at your ear, or to see where the drop ends and your movement begins. The scale of an earring can be indicated in a small note near the drawing that can include a short drop, light bead, thin wire, or a combination.
The pendant presents another set of concerns when it comes to scale. With the pendant, there would likely need to be one clear design center, however, there is also the shape of the overall necklace chain. The larger or larger the chain is, the more weight is needed in the pendant. If the chain is too thick for a small pendant, the pendant would become difficult to see. If the chain is too fine for a larger pendant, the pendant would look too heavy for the chain. Prior to refining the drawing, a note could be included on the chain thickness or on the dimensions and weight of the pendant as well as where it would hang on the chest. Size notes help to determine if the design is delicate, large, or something in between.
For the bracelet, scale is not only important for weight; it also becomes important for rhythm as well. A large bead or a big motif can look amazing by itself, but when it is repeated around the wrist the effect can be clunky, stiff, or simply too heavy. When it comes to the bracelet, one sketch that would help to evaluate scale would be a smaller design instead of just one section. The smaller design could be of a wrist-length section that shows three or four repeats of a shape and clasp, and space between elements. This would show if a design has enough air between it. In addition, if the design would have beads, wire, stones, and metal, there might need to be adjustments to the elements that are the most eye-catching as it can become a struggle for just one of these materials to stand out within a bracelet.
Finally, another tool when it comes to scale is to sketch it twice and see the design in both a zoomed in, up-close and at its full size. The close-up drawing helps to plan what type of texture, what kind of motif, and which combination of materials are to be used in the design. The drawing at a smaller scale shows how the design reads when it is worn. When the design detail of interest fades at the smaller scale, the details that surround that element can be removed or simplified. When the design at the smaller scale looks too heavy or the repeat of the shapes would make the whole piece feel bulky, the shapes in the sketch would need to be reduced or the material would need to be more lightweight.
Understanding scale will not limit your design or creativity. Understanding scale simply makes a design easier to understand. When you decide upon the size and scale for your next design piece, ask yourself what the size of the design would need to be on your body to make it look good. The answer to that will make you better design decisions when sketching a new design and the result will make the final piece look better when it is worn for a special event.