I recently had a customer wanting to buy a wedding ring to go beside her engagement ring. The engagement ring was a lower-quality import but I felt it unnecessary to mention it, as I was going to make a high-quality ring that would last longer.
When I gave a rough idea of the quote, I received the reply, "I only like to buy cheap things, so it is not so bad when they break. There is no use spending a lot of money on something only to have it break".
I mentioned that a vast majority of handmade or higher-quality jewellery would not break as quickly as the cheaper imports, if at all, underlining that you get what you pay for. Alas, there was no telling her. Her mind was made up that she could get a gold wedding ring for less than $80.
I, and the rest of Australia's manufacturing jewellers, had lost the battle. Cheap, low-quality imports have pervaded the market so deeply that my customer was of the belief that all jewellery rapidly falls to bits!
You don't need to look up statistics or conduct scientific surveys to find out what is going on in the Australian jewellery market. All it takes is a peek at shops in the area to see what people are wearing and what people are saying to you. You'll see that imports are heading up, while quality is heading down.
It might help if all manufacturing jewellers could regard each other as being on the same team.
Providing an accurate opinion of an item's sturdiness, as well as presenting easy-to-understand product knowledge from an expert, would also go a long way.
For example, how many customers have you met who are of the mistaken assumption that their yellow ring with plated highlights is actually two-tone gold, all because they were never informed otherwise? This is wrong and I tell them so.
Of course, this is generalised. But I think most would agree that Australian manufactured jewellery is generally superior to imported jewellery, especially when it is handmade. Given imported jewellery transactions greatly outnumber sales of local jewellery in our market, there must be reasons, apart from quality - the two that come to mind are price and product knowledge (or lack of).
I have often told customers that I am reluctant to resize rings due to a lack of sturdiness, pointing this out without the use of weasel words. An example would be: "This ring has been excessively hollowed, and any forces applied to it will concentrate around the settings". Such advice serves two purposes: it gives the customer wisdom to use for future purchases, and educates the consumer that jewellery shopping is not only a question of price.
People appreciate knowing and sometimes come back to buy better quality items than they would have bought before.
Working together to stop the invasion is a far better strategy than competing against each other. Imported jewellery sends money overseas where it is much harder to get it back. The more money we can keep in the country, the more likely it is that we will see that money again.
I know some would say we are living in a global market place and it is time to shape-up and compete, or sink. It's fine to compete, to export and to find efficiencies and improved ways of doing things, but why lower our standards while doing it?
It will just decrease our reputation, blurring any key differences between us and the imports and leading to jewellers spending most of their time repairing.
I used to spend a majority of my bench time repairing but am now manufacturing more jewellery. I am more likely to export more if I am still manufacturing, and less likely to export if I just repair. What's that? Repairs are a jeweller's bread and butter? Not if I can help it!
Name: Dean Walker
Company: Dean Walker Designs
Position: Director
Qualifications: Qualified Jeweller
Years in industry: 15