Owning a USA Kilt premier and a Scottish Handsewn 8 yarder from Hector Russel, I can say that there is very little difference in the quality of the finished product between the two. There are minor points here and there, but I'm just as satisfied with each and the price I paid for them.

In a way, much the same question can be applied to my vocation, stained glass. (I consider stained glass a calling and not simply a job.)

There are all sorts of ways that people who make stained glass for profit have come to the profession.

Some are self-taught, although since it is much harder to reverse engineer stained glass without completely destroying the handwork before you can even see what was done they tend to not be as good.

Others have taken a class or two at their community center and then practised a lot on their own prior to getting started professionally.

Most have apprenticed under another artist. But this has different meanings. In the US and much of Europe this means being hired by one of the large studios and slowly over time learning each step of the process, since most studios make panels on something like an assembly line (there are glass cutters, leaders, solderers, mudders, etc) and only near the end of their career are they fully skilled in all facets of stained glass making. I apprenticed under an independent artist who taught me the steps in a more holistic manner since there wasn't a huge staff and the ability to specialize a worker on a single aspect of a project for years. Some of these apprenticeships are now part of a Apprenticeship program sponsored by the Stained Glass Guild of America, but not all of them. Being part of that program simply means that the apprenticeship is certified as following their guidelines. Some of the best large studios don't bother to pay the SGAA the large annual payment for the certification of their apprenticeship programs.

Finally, there is one rather famous stained glass artist (who shall remain nameless) who has created her own certification process. She gives classes to would-be instructors and then declares them certified (she's the one issuing the certification and not any governing body or standards body of any kind) and those "certified" instructors with a couple of weekend seminars under their belts are out there teaching students and issuing them "certifications" as glass artists after a few weeks of classes.

The SGAA apprenticeship certification already seemed questionable to me, but that last "certification" process is truly sketchy.

Thankfully, for stained glass there has been an attempt to cut through the confusion. The SGAA has a tiered membership that is not just based on cost. For the higher membership levels your work must actually be reviewed by a panel of your peers and art experts before you can be invited to membership at that level.