[Jewelry making - Article 00842] - Re: [Orchid] PMC in general

[Grace & Tom Stokes]

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    I have been sitting back following the posts on PMC with tremendous
    interest. 

    First of all, I don't want this post to be taken as a negative toward
    PMC nor any other material people might be using to create jewelry. I
    believe there is room for anything, the more imaginative the better.
    In fact I have been quite surprised at some of the terribly and what
    would seem unjustifiably negative and surprisingly conservative
    comments. Never having used PMC, I cannot comment on whether or not
    it is a stable, strong material nor can I say how it should be
    classified and therefore, I don't have any authorative input on that
    aspect. However, when I read Catherine Ondrey's post I felt the 'nail
    hit the head'. I think the popularity of PMC and the pricing of the
    work are going to and are already having a HUGE impact on our lives
    as traditional silversmith's. Whether or not we respect the material,
    our ability to be competitive is and will be greatly impacted and
    that has many people scared to death. Though I find the banter back
    and forth on what to label it and how it should or should not be
    classified and does it break when bent very interesting, I am much
    more concerned with how I am going to be able to justify my prices on
    a booth full of hand fabricated jewelry next to a booth full of PMC
    jewelry, which whether or not you like it or think it is living up to
    a 'metalsmith's standards, is SELLING VERY WELL.  Not only is it
    selling very well but the people who used to be jewelry buying
    customers are now becoming Jewelry Makers!!! It was difficult enough
    to get through the long period of competing with beaded jewelry, but
    at least the differences were obvious. So we can spend a lot of time
    discussing whether or not it is good quality jewelry, meantime it is
    here, getting more popular and it's not going anywhere fast which
    says to me that we have to find a way to make our work SOOO MUCH
    BETTER so it really stands out in a class of its own. It is going to
    have to be so much better to compete and it feels like a good swift
    scary kick in the butt!! 

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