[Jewelry making - Article 00216] - Re: [Orchid] Wearing your jewelry creations

[Kevin P. Kelly]

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>     Are there some men out there who like jewelry? Sure. Someone has to
>     be a pirate. Is there ever going to be a big market for it? Not in
>     my lifetime. The only men's jewelry I make up for stock are wedding
>     bands. Other than that, they have to custom order it if they want
>     it. I don't even carry tie tacs or cufflinks anymore because it
>     would, on average, take me about 5 years to sell one piece. There
>     aren't enough bikers around my location to try to grab that market
>     so...

    The above quote is from a well respected member of this forum whose
    postings I always read. It reveals a basis that surprised me. 

    We can only speak from our personal experience; mine is as a retail
    jeweler selling exclusively at art fairs. I've been doing it for more
    than 20 years at a modest level. I find that the comments about men's
    jewelry in this thread to be not relevant to my experience. 

    In dollar terms men's jewelry is more than 50% of my income. A
    comment I hear frequently at shows is "Oh! men's jewelry." Not the
    diamond stuck in a nugget ring; but something different with more
    design (he says modestly). 

>     People do not know what they want until they see it. 

    It wasn't a business plan on my part; it just evolved. Partially
    because I'm mainly self taught and didn't know 'what was done and
    not done'. It's probably also due to the type of stones I use: Opals
    in matrix, which I cut from rough and which lend themselves to men's
    jewelry, at least for me. 

    I started out as a stone cutter who came to concentrate on opal in
    my work. I pretty much followed my own lead in design. 

    For me It's pretty much a niche market; I don't have to sell to
    everyone. And finally, diamonds, rubies, and pearls are stones I use
    infrequently. 

    I've sold men's jewelry to Hollywood producers, game designers,
    investment bankers, computer 'geeks' among others, but never to a
    pirate. 

KPK
www.kevinpatrickkelly.com
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