Technology and its affects on the jewelry industry. Chapter 1.
14th Jul 2022
At first look the subject of technology and its effects on the jewelry industry is a very broad subject. I will have to break it down into a least two separate sections. The First section will deal with the rise of the web, social media and the leading e-commerce platforms Etsy, Shopify,and Big Commerce, I have personal experience with all these platforms.
The second section will deal with the latest forms of technology specifically in the manufacture craft of jewelry.
Each section is somewhat autobiographical to my own experiences entering the jewelry industry at 17 years of age as an apprentice, in Ireland in 1997 till today 2021.
My first day as an apprentice was a magical day for me. It was full of hope and promise and lots of excitement. I was put to work sweeping the floor and on my hands and knees with a dust pan and brush I collected precious metal gold fillings from under the jewelry work benches.
My other duties were making tea and collecting and delivering parcels of jewelry to our small workshop from the local jewelry retail shops.
During parts of the day I would sit on a stool behind the master jeweller and be shown a technique of the craft then put to practice this technique.
Techniques were taught one by one slowly and only when there was spare time. I really enjoyed my apprenticeship in this old style as I was a very enthusiastic person.
There were available some tutorial books and VHS cassettes which could help to advance an apprentice somewhat. However they were a bit rare.
In those days many house holds did not have any internet and many people didn't make much use of mobile phones.
YOUTUBE
In 2005 YouTube is launched.
It was many years later perhaps 2010 when I noticed that people where starting to freely share quality tutorials on Youtube. The jewelry industry was always a secretive trade but here now people where showing their techniques to the world. This platform allowed tradespeople from all over the world to share pieces of knowledge.
I wish this forum was available when I was an apprentice many years ago. This technology platform was the first I encountered which had a truly positive effect on the jewelry industry.
Whilst setting up new gold jewelry casting machinery in my workshop last year I found YouTube so so useful.
TECHNOLOGY IN THE FORM OF E COMMERCE.
Setting up a jewelry store is a very expensive endeavor. Lets be honest its out of reach of many apprentices in the industry.
Leasing a retail premises, rents, council taxes, insurance, staff, security are huge expenses. Lets not forget the costs of a shop fit out with jewelry display cabinets and the most costly items being the jewelry stock to fill those displays.
For many this is just not possible.
However there was another less lucrative career path. This is the only option which was open to me at that time.
This involves setting up a trade workshop to service the needs of the jewelry industry. I built my workshop piece by piece over the first few years as I could afford.
One would repair jewelry and make custom orders for a retail shop. Unfortunately it was a slow way to make money and in fact for the amount of time one would have to put into this business model it was not possible to make a profitable business.
This is one of the reasons that these workshops are declining and becoming more rare in Dublin city. The other reason is the rise of technology in the industry.
Facebook launched in 2004. I was slow to start using it. When I finally did start using Facebook it really helped my business. I would put up pictures of my jewelry and tell potential customers to contact me and make an appointment to visit my workshop, I could sit with them and design their ideal and unique ring. This was a game changer for me at the time. It was also a cutting edge way to market to my potential customers at the time.
In those early days most jewelry shops in Ireland had no websites and would not think to upload pictures of their jewelry onto Facebook.
Please follow for chapter two. I will look much more deeply into social media, digital photography and e commerce.