Saturday, 31 May 2008
It's Sunday Tomorrow..!
I could do with an on site jobber/goldsmith, my dilemma is that I don't want to send work out. I have tried that and you end up doing the job again sometimes because its not 100% right. Having someone at hand would allow me to train them to my way of getting the job done. I must put that ad' in the paper and see what turns up. Saying that 90+% of other jewellers send their work out and seem to get by, perhaps my powers of communication are lacking somewhere.
Time to pack up now, it's 5pm, late customer just walked in hope he doesn't spend next half hour looking the walk out without buying something.
My e-newsletter went out Thursday, still need to get more people signed up. The response has been good, apparently very good so my marketing people say, according to the open and click through rates. Its all good fun anyway, I hope people enjoy it, you never know it may just nudge someone to pop in and buy something.
Got to go now, Nancy and Brits got talent finals tonight, ye ha..! I will come up with something a bit more interesting next time.
Tuesday, 20 May 2008
Tuesday

Monday, 19 May 2008
In the Beginning
I'm not sure how this works but I will give it a go anyway. You may find all sorts of spelling and grammatical errors but hey, I'm a jeweller..! My name is Rob and with my wife Jan we own a small independent jewellery store in the UK. We started some seven years ago after a bust up with my former employer (who shall remain nameless, for now) We set out to change the way jewellery was sold, the environment, display and the jewellery its self. Seven years down the line we are still looking to change the world because the world has caught up with us.
Just to let you know, my training started at the age of seventeen when real apprenticeships still existed. The apprenticeship was a serious, signed contract between employer and employee which lasted for five years. I worked in a dingy attic in SOHO, London where health and safety just didn't exist. We made and repaired fine jewellery for most of the Bond Street retailers. It was a fine experience and my first job after leaving school, wow, that is such a long time ago now. As apprentices we did just about everything, make the tea, to do that we had to move the cyanide pot, used to clean silver, from the tea making table, Fred the polisher used to leave it there to warm up, almost every day he got a rollicking from the directors when cyanide fumes engulfed the workshop, he wasn't the sharpest tack in the box. We ran errands, had the mickey taken out of us, swept up every day searching through the fag ends and pipe tobacco looking for any diamonds or tiny bits of gold that may have found their way onto the floor, then, just sometimes we sat down and learnt how to make and repair fine jewellery.
More about my wonderful days past some other time, or I will be here all day.
The purpose of this blog is at least two fold, one is for me to find out how all these techie things work and the other is to publicise the world of the Jeweller, as I know it. We love our work and see all types of fine jewellery as real treasure. To see how each piece is made, how the goldsmith or diamond mounter overcame design problems, how the piece sits on the wearer, there are so many interesting facets to the jewellery trade, you just never stop learning and every day something new happens. I would love you to post a comment and ask me some questions, lets have a dialogue..! Over to you..!
The Jeweller