How to start a Jewelry Designer Club?

Jewelry Discussion
1

Hi,

I am a studio jeweler living in Bangkok, Thailand. I was trained at
Revere Academy and a small school in Florence, Italy. The majority
of my work is contemporary with unique design, hand-made in sterling
silver and 18K gold. I have a relative hard time getting people to
understand my jewelry. People here still think of jewelry as fine
jewelry with lots of colored stones and diamonds. Anything without a
diamond is considered costume Anything in between is not worth
buying.

When I told people I make jewelry myself, they looked at me and said
oh, you can grade diamonds right? I am getting frustrated having to
explain to them that making jewelry and grading diamonds/stones are
two different things! And when I told them I made jewelry with my
own two hands, they looked at me in amazement"just because they
think people who make jewelry in Thailand are only craftspeople
working for big jewelry manufacturers in a small, musty
sweatshop™ sort of place.

Lately I have been contemplating starting a club for studio
jewelers/contemporary jewelry designers in Bangkok who are trying to
venture out to the Thai/regional market on their own. Right now I
can think of about a handful of us working in this sort of
contemporary art jewelry and/or teaching this subject in local
universities.

The hardest part of it is to get started. I am wondering if anyone
out there who had set up club/group of this sort could spare a few
moments to help me out here. My main goals are for contemporary
studio jewelers in Thailand to get together and help each other out
as far as marketing is concerned and educating the public about the
kind of work we do. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

If there™s anyone else out there working out of Thailand who is
interested in this, please feel free to contact me at
@atinuj_tantivit. My website is only partly done but you can
see a few of my work at www.la-chiocciolina.com.

Thanks for your time.

Atty Tantivit

2

Hello,

My name is Parou and I work for a jewelry company that sells jewelry
to stores in the U.S. I am looking for someone to draw beautiful
mondern designs. We would then take the designs and make them in our
own factory.

Designers in America are too too expensive, so I was wondering if
you know anyone who can make draw beautiful designs for us in
Thailand.

I would appreciate your help.

By the way, I saw the designs on your website, they are very
beautiful. I would like to see what else you make.

I think that I may be able to sell those designs to my customers.

Parou

3

Atty:

Lately I have been contemplating starting a club for studio
jewelers/contemporary jewelry designers in Bangkok who are trying
to venture out to the Thai/regional market on their own. Right now
I can think of about a handful of us working in this sort of
contemporary art jewelry and/or teaching this subject in local
universities.

In the USA there are many such “clubs,” but in the European
tradition they are usually called guilds. (It’s more high-brow",
sounds more professional) So for starters call your group a guild.

These are groups of like minded people who get together, usually
monthly to talk about their craft, the business of it, new ideas,
etc. There is usually a small yearly fee to join which can rent a
meeting space (or you can meet for free in people’s businesses or
homes) food for the meeting, start a group library, plan workshops,
etc.

The guilds that I have personally found the most useful are the ones
who also host yearly shows of member’s work. This ultimately is how
you will help educate your buying public to your new ideas…hand-
made work without all the gems. (We still face that issue in the
states too, though perhaps people are growing out of it.)

Guilds take many forms based on the needs of the group. They can
become very influential. My favorite guild is in Portland,
Oregon…CMAG or Creative Metal Arts Guild. It was formed years ago
by a few jewelers with interests similar to yours. The originators
were knowledgeable and willing to share their knowledge. CMAG has
evolved into a wonderful group of giving, sharing jewelers and metal
workers. Their annual show is a must see for jewelry buyers in the
Portland area.

It took a few years for CMAG to get where they are today. Focus on
getting your guild up and running, enjoy the camaraderie of your
fellow jewelers, and the rest will follow. CMAG website:

By the way, I suspect that your market will be tourists not your
fellow countrymen/women. Whenever I go to another country I am
always looking for individually made crafts where an artist is truly
working on what he loves and not just cranking out a bunch of stuff.

I hope this is helpful. By the way your English is great.

Carla