[Jewelry making - Article 00571] - Re: [Orchid] The Incredible Shrinking Lapidary Journal

[Derek]

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    As someone who writes for LJ from time to time, I pay close
    attention to what goes on between the covers. I wrote a review of
    Henry Hunt's latest book on gem carving for last month's issue. 

    I too thought that the magazine was abandoning the lapidary arts,
    but I also know that there are far too many people who are purists.
    If something or someone doesn't reflect them or their interests
    completely, they discredit it or them as having no value. I have
    been told by the editor that there will be more rock content again.
    What they are doing is spinning off other segments of the market
    into separate mags. 

    Beyond that, last year at Tucson, I had a tremendously eye opening
    experience. The volume of beads was absolutely mind boggling. I've
    estimated it in my own mind at 100 tons.  I also know that far more
    people seem to feel comfortable stringing beads than doing anything
    else with jewelry making. I haven't figured out why, since I don't
    see people wearing them often, but there is a huge, huge bead market
    out there, as I'm sure we all know.  Beyond that the vast majority
    of consumers who are not at all educated on the subject really don't
    much care if they wear stone or glass or plastic or ceramic. So the
    consumer market has changed and the magazine is reacting to that
    change as best it can. 

    And too, as we all know, there is so much in cheap jewelry and cheap
    stones that is imported that there are, I suspect, far fewer people
    who are cutting their own stones or buying them from cutters they
    know. With the discipline currently in decline in this country and
    with fewer and fewer people buying from US lapidaries because they
    consider our prices too high, the market in lapidary discussion is
    shrinking. I ask you to please examine your own buying habits. But
    just because this is the current trend doesn't mean it continues
    like this into the future. We must protect the resources until that
    change comes. It's far more difficult to get it started from
    scratch. 

    If people withdraw from the publications that can promote the hobby
    and the profession and thus reduce the educational sources that can
    keep it alive, we could simply cede the market overseas completely. 

    I agree with another respondant to this thread who said the way to
    improve the magazine is not to withdraw from it but to support it
    more vigorously and to contribute ideas and criticisms. We here are
    also a market to respond to. 

    One more thing I would say. I live in a relatively small population
    area. Nonetheless we have a Borders and a Barnes and Noble
    bookstore. Neither of them stocks LJ and so the mag doesn't even
    have a chance to get distributed to spread awareness of the
    discipline. Incidentally, just a little aside, an article I wrote on
    the color of amber last year was published in Italy. It's kind of a
    kick to read your own words translated into another language. 

Derek Levin
www.Gemmaker.com

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