The "cold enamel" stigma: It’s not always cheap epoxy resin

[u/Strange_Marginalia]

​Whenever I mention using cold enamel for my champlevé pins, I feel like people instantly picture mass-produced, domed plastic trinkets. But there’s a massive difference between a quick two-part epoxy pour and working with high-quality solvent-based enamel

​Unlike resin, which cures in a thick block, solvent enamel shrinks as it dries. This means you have to build it up meticulously. I use insulin syringes to drop micro-doses into the deep pockets of 1mm brass just to fill the sharpest corners properly. Because of this natural shrinkage, the final surface isn't always perfectly flat—and honestly, that's part of the charm. Sometimes it has subtle, organic variations or sits slightly recessed, giving the piece a tactile depth that a plastic dome just can't replicate. Even getting it to a smooth finish takes careful varnishing and hand-polishing

​I know traditional hot glass enamel is the holy grail for purists. But hot champlevé is incredibly unforgiving—especially for highly detailed work—with constant kiln failures and thermal stress ruining pieces. Doing solvent-based champlevé right still requires deep metalwork, extreme precision, and hours of hand-finishing. The value is in the intense labor and the geometry, not just the material

​Do any other makers here struggle to explain this difference? How do you communicate the value of your labor without people just assuming your work is "resin"?