Afro American Jewellery

I have a contact in the US who is looking for UK made jewellery aimed at the African American male market. The sort of thing that Lewis Hamilton might wear! Please leave a message.

Didn’t know there were markets for jewelry that specific. So does that mean pieces that are contrasting in typical darker skinned people, or what?

Try Bobby White in London.

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My contact in the US believes there is an untapped market there for Afro American men. He is looking for statement pieces with weight and bling!

Thanks, this looks like the sort of jewellery my contact is looking for. I will pass on your details.

David Thorn- You make a good point. There are, in my opinion, several untapped markets in developed western culture. Men in general, LGBTQ, and Latinos immediately come to mind. Asian Americans are pretty well represented here on the west coast. After the wars in SE Asia, we had a bunch of skilled craftsmen immigrate here. I truly wish that we could get African metal smiths immigration visas to come to the US. I have always been gob smacked by third world jewelry makers who can work with the simplest and crudest tools available to them. I am a huge fan of Tim McCreight’s Tool Box Initiative. There are a number of videos on You Tube but this one is a good introduction. Toolbox Initiative - For the Love of Jewelers - YouTube.

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Jo…The Toolbox Initiative is a great program. I am going through my shop to collect tools that I don’t need and will be sending them to Tim. Long term, it may be a solution to my problem of what to do with my shop when I no longer need it. I will be discussing this with my boys…Rob

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I just sent off a small package of gently used pliers, files, tweezers and saw frames to the Toolbox Initiative. This is a wonderful project started by Tim McCreight and Matthieu Cheminee that helps support jewelry artists and their families in Africa. Do a search on Toolbox Initiative in your browser or FB. We all have older or unused tools stashed away in a drawer. It’s as simple as packing them up and sending them to Tim at the Toolbox Initiative. Cleaning my shop a couple weeks ago reminded me that I needed to do this…Rob

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This is a picture of a young African lad from about 25 years ago that I keep in my shop. It was given to me by a friend who went on a mission trip to Africa and brought me back a piece of this young man’s art. It continually reminds me of how blessed I am and to give back wherever I can. There are sooo many artists out there across the world that have so little to work with a yet create items of beauty that I have yet to achieve with all my modern tools. The Toolbox Initiative is a great place to give back.

Bruce
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