Well let’s see… recently at a show a woman and her daughter,
during their second round in my booth were ooohing and ahhing over
my earrings and the daughter says “Oh Mom, look here’s the one you
love - the one you’re going to copy!!!” The other comment I get
frequently is “Who makes all this stuff?”
Grace
Everything else is open source as far as I am concerned. Ask away. Thanks to Orchid and its generous contributors for allowing us to all be open source,and encourage the same should we choose. Without help and none of us would learn, improve, or move forward.
Yeah I have to agree with her - There’s enough room in this world
for all of us & I am always glad to share any I can -
Even if we all had the same sources our work would be unique to our
selves. And its not like we are reinventing the wheel or anything.
Jewelry has been around for along time.
Mary R
There have been so many bizarre comments over the years but some I
recall.
Back when crystals were popular I was doing some Bible Belt show. A
woman asked if these were the kind of crystals fortune tellers used
or just regular crystals. I asked her which kind she wanted. “Just
regular crystals” was her reply.
I was asked if I used real stones or just rocks.
I heard a woman whisper to her friend that all my stones were fake.
(none are)
apparently the minute the customer hears this she drops the work on the counter backs off a few steps and says how dare she carry artists from that region and she will be taking her business elsewhere from now on.
Ouch! I am so sorry that anyone would treat you or anyone else so
stupidly Hratch. Ignorance is a mainstay in public sales I am
afraid. No avoiding it on so many levels. I wonder what the point of
the gallery owner telling you was? I believe there are some things
better left unshared.
Lisa, (It rained for a nanosecond today…huh?) Topanga, CA USA
The artist replied with a smile, "Quality isn't for everyone." Wish I knew who the artist was, so I could thank her for the line that I
In his workshops, Bruce Baker suggests a similar line, “It’s not for
everyone,” delivered with a faint smile.
Elaine
http://www.CreativeTextureTools.com ™
Hard to Find Tools for Metal Clay
I had a guy closely examine a crazy lace agate pendant. He had
obviously had had a few adult beverages. He kept studying the stone
closer and closer and finally asked how I got all the lines and
swirls in “this” (referring to the stone). I responded with, “I
can’t take credit for that. I only cut and polish what God (or insert
your preferred deity) created.”
Rick Copeland
Silversmith and Lapidary Artisan
Rocky Mountain Wonders
Colorado Springs, Colorado
http://rockymountainwonders.com
Lisa~
who the heck is a "rival" by the way...we all make jewelry here, and are all fighting for the same dollars, so with that line of thought, perhaps we should all shut up and Orchid should shut down? Kiiiidddiing!
I’m a little puzzled that, from this isolated story, you have jumped
to such a fully formed and negative conclusion about my professional
philosophy, bolstered by sterling comparisons of your own to offer
in pointed alternative.
Allow me to clarify: I use the term “colleague” when I refer to
other designers in my field, or sometimes “diva” when their work
really knocks my socks off. But I wrote “rival” in this case because
that’s how she treated me, not the other way around… In this
particular situation, it was a veteran designer who sold her work in
the same store for a number of the years that I was featured there
until, one day, hers was gone. She had been asked to remove it - and
she managed that all on her own. One of the issues that finally got
management’s attention was that she persisted in copying some of my
more successful signature work ( and those of others, too) while
undercutting my prices with lower standards of technique - plus
cheaper, more commonly available materials… This, of course, would
not necessarily be immediately obvious to the browsing customer, or
even to some of the turnover sales staff. I had to repeatedly, yet
diplomatically, make them aware of the distinctions that affected
price so that they, in turn, could explain it to customers.
She was observed on several occasions stooping over my cases taking
photographs, something she persisted in doing when she thought she
could get away with it, even after being asked ( by department staff)
to stop. She approached me with questions on occasion, not during
quiet moments one-to-one, but inevitably while I was engaged in
conversation with customers during my trunk shows. She would intrude
on this activity, interrupting, sometimes dropping tasteless remarks
about several of the elements in my work, dumbfounding the customers,
let alone me. With all this, she would also ask me for my sources for
this or that. Perhaps I should point out that this person was no
newcomer, having been making and selling jewelry far longer than I,
with, I have to assume, well honed search and research skills of her
own and the extensive resources ( more than mine, certainly) to show
for it.
Now…would you refer to such a person as a “colleague” or as
something else…?
I applaud your generosity with Be assured that I also
share whatever I can. I call that professional courtesy as well as
being a Person - but this individual’s behavior toward me was
neither professional nor courteous. It was purely weird. And, trying
hard to think back, I can’t recall my mother ever suggesting Doormat
to me as a career choice… In the very early years of my jewelry
business, I happen to have observed, in separate situations, two
highly successful designers - both of whose quality and style were
way above the reach of any would-be copycat - behave toward newer,
younger - er - colleagues in the most vicious, territorial, caustic,
and purposely hurtful manner possible. I have always remembered their
example and promised myself that I would never stoop to that. For one
thing, every piece I make, in fact, carries very detailed
becoming its own source even if I’m not there to tell
the tale.
Thanks to Orchid and its generous contributors for allowing us to all be open source,and encourage the same should we choose. Without help and none of us would learn, improve, or move forward.
AMEN to that…! :o)
-Lisa (Brush clearance yesterday. Fire season is here in full force in So Cal. Leaving now for a Powwow in Moorpark, but don't plan on dancing.) Topanga, CA USA
~margery in LA (wishing I’d known about that Powwow…!!)
Hello Hratch,
That was a nasty experience - for you as an artist and for the
gallery owner as well. Bigotry is bigotry, regardless of the
situation. Right now, there are so many bigoted emails circulating in
the USA related to the candidates for the '08 presidential election -
politics is rife with bigots!! Aren’t you glad the woman didn’t know
your politics!
I admire your resilience.
Judy in Kansas
Karen…Oops…my bad! I wrongly assumed your attorney to be a
’he’ because the ‘one-upmanship’ attitude is predominantly male, and
men still dominate the legal field. Thank you for raising the
consciousness of me and your attorney, and reminding us all that the
best way to deal with uninformed customers is to educate them.
Dee
When asked, ‘how long did it take you to make that?’, I usually
reply, with a large smile, ‘64 years’.
szs
If I tried to charge $125/hr for my jewelry work plus parts, people would think I was insane....
Well, thank God this is not necessarily true! This is just about the
amount I aim at, for retail. More and more, I am getting acceptance
of these prices, or sometimes even higher. At first, I thought it
had to have gold and/or high-end stones, but recently, I have sold
silver and, say, fossil coral, for around that level, with little to
no resistance.
Noel
She was observed on several occasions stooping over my cases taking photographs, something she persisted in doing when she thought she could get away with it, even after being asked ( by department staff) to stop.
As I stated in my other post (women in business) I know exactly why
I allowed myself to be treated poorly, but why did you? The type of
behavior above should have happened only once before it was handled.
She approached me with questions on occasion, not during quiet moments one-to-one, but inevitably while I was engaged in conversation with customers during my trunk shows.
Only once
She would intrude on this activity, interrupting, sometimes dropping tasteless remarks about several of the elements in my work, dumbfounding the customers, let alone me.
Only once
Doormat to me as a career choice..
Admittedly, it is a very blunt term to use, but you were acting like
a doormat for quite a while
I have always remembered their example and promised myself that I would never stoop to that. For one thing, every piece I make, in fact, carries very detailed becoming its own source even if I'm not there to tell the tale.
I’m not trying to offend (at all) but in this email, you are quite
on the defensive. In business conversations, when one person is on
the defensive, they are readily handing over all of their power to
the other person. Remember, it’s not personal.
Thanks to Orchid and its generous contributors for allowing us to all be open source,and encourage the same should we choose. Without help and none of us would learn, improve, or move forward.
When I want to share, I do. When I don’t, I don’t. It’s case by case
and it’s my decision. Right now, there are many people who are
sharing with me and I am so thankful, but it is still my choice how I
act towards others. Don’t take this to mean that I am mean or
stingy (it won’t bother me anyway if you do). It’s just that I like
to make my own decisions. I don’t want anyone to feel they have to
be an all-out open book because someone on a discussion group tells
them they really should. If everyone did what was in their own,
generous human nature then we would certainly all be open source,
but it is up to them. A pretend example, I start making a ring that
features an unusual stone (which I am having cut just for me) and
it’s selling like hot cakes. Several ask my source, what do I do? I
tell them anything I can, except my source. Why? because helping
someone else by actually hurting yourself is not truly helping
anyone. If they had my best interests in mind to begin with, they
wouldn’t ask.
Kim Starbard
http://www.kimstarbarddesigns.com
As for being open and sharing with others in the craft… I do
agree, and I’m pretty good about sharing both my sources and
wonderful groups like Orchid where you can learn so much. However, I
think the original point was that there is a time and place for
sharing. What is the point of working so hard and going to a show
with the attitude of “this is nothing special, here you can do it
too.” If the person had been a little less tactless in asking for a
supplier in front of a customer, the result may have been a bit
different. It’s just bad manners, not only for revealing any
“secret”, but because that customer needs to be the number one focus
at that point, not another vendor!
As artists we are all doing what we love, however a good portion of
us are actually trying to make a living at selling our art, If you
find another individual who shares your passion, who really wants to
learn (and in my opinion, they are pretty easy to spot) by all means
share with them, discuss suppliers, technique and tricks to your
heart’s content. Tell a customer how you make something in a way
that’s intriguing and makes them want to own a piece. But to expect
another artist to tell you all their suppliers and tricks etc in
front of a paying customer (who may then decide to go off and order
something himself rather than buy something) is different altogether
and somehow lessens the value of all the hard work we put into our
art!
Kerry
www.celtcraftdesigns.com
Good morning,
This is not a comment heard from customers, but a comment from a
sales person. We were on a Caribbean cruise a couple of months ago.
While in one of the shops that sold Amber jewellery I listened to a
clerk (he was the representative of the jewellery line) explain to a
customer that the green Amber came from ancient Evergreen trees, the
red from cedar trees and the golden amber from oak trees. To top it
all off he was very serious.
His comments made me wonder tho, how are the different colours
obtained. I realize they are treated but does anybody know what
treatments are used. Also I noticed a large amount of very bright red
Amber available, where is this coming from? I just would be
interested to know…Thanks
Gerry
We have also been told that the gemstones used in our work are
fake/glass and even had the metals used called into question by
people who proclaim thay they know these things. My wife then
normally tells these potential customers what I do as the day job
and that is usually enough (geology graduate working as an electron
microscopist in a materials science lab). Once this did not work,
the customer then having decided that maybe our amethysts werent
glass proceeded to question whether the pearls were. On being told
they were cultured freshwater pearls she said “Ha I thought so,
freshwater isnt proper water for pearls!”
Nick
If I tried to charge $125/hr for my jewelry work plus parts, people would think I was insane....
I have similar experiences. Think about this: How much do you pay for
sheet rock installation or plumbing work? Is not your labor worth
more?
Doc
Noel
I bet your standard retail fee is somewhat low…Not saying you are a
lawyer, but some of them charge about $350 - $750.00 PER HOUR and
this is PLUS the ‘normal’ extra’s… The more you charge the more you
might find people WILL PAY YOUR PRICE…Plumbers charge $100.00 just
to knock on your door before entering… We are so under-paid, it’s
so frustrating to read!
For my training fee is a basic $350.00 per day…PLUS! And I still
feel this is quite low …basically you must know your clients first
and not be ‘afraid’ to charge accordingly, and then some…
Gerry!
Just have to add my 2c on adult’s comments. I had a woman come to my
booth, and for at least 20 minutes looked my jewelry over closely.
Then she looked me straight in the eye and said, “You have the most
beautiful stones. I don’t care at all for what you’ve done with
them, but the stones are lovely.” After picking my jaw up off the
floor, I replied, “Yes, I enjoy working with nice stones.” That one
really hurt, even more than the “nice hobby” comments. I always
wonder how a person can look at a booth with over 500 handmade
jewelry items on display, be told that I make it all myself, and then
call it a hobby!
People are amazing.
Bev Ludlow
Renaissance Jewelry
http://www.wirewrapjeweler.com
Sorry, I had to comment on this one. I was on a lovely relaxing
cruise a few years ago, where the cruise lines set up a “jewelry
sale” on one of the decks. This woman kept telling people that the
cheap, cz flush set stone half round band ring was made of
rhodium…for $19.99. No dear, it is rhodium plated. She began to
argue, no, no, they told me is made of pure rhodium.
Oh, and when you get off the ships, you are swamped by hundreds of
hungry shopkeepers all showing you their “emeralds” all clear and
perfect. Oil anyone?
While in Cancun, I saw hundreds of these shops, but there didn’t
seem to be any goldsmiths around. Then I found them, upstairs, all
from India.
-k
M E T A L W E R X
School for Jewelry and the Metalarts
50 Guinan St.
Waltham, MA 02451
781 891 3854
www.metalwerx.com
LMAO amber from black walnuts would be black right LOL
Ok there is an insurgance of undyed red amber from the Czech
Republic the Baltic region there is producing some remarkable amber
but most is still dyed and being sold as natural
Only 10 % of the world’s amber is natural red.
Like any gemstone or thing of nature color comes from chemicals in
the earth surrounding it during forming. think to basics green copper
/red iron this seems to me the simplest explanation. Though many
plants are natural dyes interesting question. I await a more learned
response.
I buy from a Czech supplier he travels to some shows he has true red
amber and standard amber and also has artifacts and fossil ivory I
found 3 artifacts in his trays in Pittsburgh and he said HOW DID they
get in there lol
So when perusing his stuff always take along a traing palentologist
lol hehe prior lives to jeweler sometimes are wonderful
Peter’s Amber no affiliation just a very happy client
http://www.petersamber.com
Teri wondering if Japanese dwarf Maples produce micro red amber
Silver & Cameo Heritage Jewelry
www.corneliusspick.com