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Globe maker The perfect job for patient craftspeople who want to make their mark on the world, globe making offers the opportunity to enjoy the meditative benefits of working with your hands while creating a one-of-a-kind object that people are willing to pay thousands for. Fashioning beautiful, detailed models of the world entirely by hand, this painstaking craft is both a rare trade and a dying art. Despite this, globe makers still exist and it could even be said that there’s been a bit of a resurgence in the desire for handmade globes. With globes taking weeks, sometimes even months, to make, globe making can’t be rushed. Sure, there are mass-produced, plastic globes available for sale in stores all over the world, but a handcrafted globe made in the traditional way from plaster, metal and mahogany requires an immense amount of care and skill. Sadly, that care and skill isn’t taught in any commercial courses or trade schools around the world, so the opportunity to learn can only come from taking up apprenticeships with globe makers or teaching yourself via the old, painful, trial-and-error method. So is there any money in globe making? Well, as keenly sought items, globes made by hand are priced very highly – some globes go for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Using the best materials, and investing countless hours in perfecting the globe, globe makers can turn a profitable business but it’s not without its stresses. Some globe makers offer a bespoke service where they custom-make globes for individuals in whatever colour, size and style they like. Other globe makers make a range of globes that they then either sell directly to the public or stock in high-end furniture and interiors stores. Either way, demand may be great one month and low another, so it’s a fickle trade to be involved in. With most customers accustomed to getting everything they want immediately, it can
be difficult to convince them to wait for weeks or months to get their product. While not a mainstream business, globe making gives you the opportunity to keep an old tradition alive in modern times. Knowing that the items you make are treasured by the people who buy them would surely make all the hours of work that go into making a globe worthwhile. Selling a globe for a couple of hundred thousand would be a pretty sweet feeling too. The type of role suited to perfectionists with a passion for quality craftsmanship, globe making may not be a typical path to follow, but its rewards are plenty and its influence far-reaching. To think that a handcrafted globe of yours could end up in the office of a prime minister, the study of a famous author, or the bedroom of a celebrity with an obsession for cartography – the world of globe making doesn’t seem so small after all.
The lowdown
Education or qualifications: None. Experience required: Experience in carpentry, painting and other handmade crafts would be helpful. Training: As a rare trade, globe making can be learned in apprenticeship arrangements with working globe makers. Restrictions: None.