Comments on: Blatant Jewelry Copycat http://jewelry-business-blog.com/jewelry_business/blatant-jewelry-copycat/ Jewelry Business Strategies by Jewelry Business Expert Rena Klingenberg Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:39:23 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Silver Jewellery http://jewelry-business-blog.com/jewelry_business/blatant-jewelry-copycat/comment-page-1/#comment-1048 Silver Jewellery Sun, 16 Nov 2008 14:37:54 +0000 http://jewelry-business-blog.com/?p=188#comment-1048 Good for you. I am regularly apprached by Chinese manufacturers offering to make my jewellery cheaper for me than my fabuolous Mexican artisans... Aside form the fact I would ever betray their years of loyalty, there is no way I would let a culture famous for it's knocking off of everything from Gucci shoes to Prada handbags anywhere near my designs. I suspect it would be a matter of weeks before a cheap tiny version of my pieces started appearing on Ebay at a fraction of the cost. Good for you. I am regularly apprached by Chinese manufacturers offering to make my jewellery cheaper for me than my fabuolous Mexican artisans… Aside form the fact I would ever betray their years of loyalty, there is no way I would let a culture famous for it’s knocking off of everything from Gucci shoes to Prada handbags anywhere near my designs. I suspect it would be a matter of weeks before a cheap tiny version of my pieces started appearing on Ebay at a fraction of the cost.

]]> By: Anne Madison http://jewelry-business-blog.com/jewelry_business/blatant-jewelry-copycat/comment-page-1/#comment-1016 Anne Madison Fri, 14 Nov 2008 18:45:31 +0000 http://jewelry-business-blog.com/?p=188#comment-1016 This has happened to me twice--once several years ago with a "make your own" kit that I designed for rosaries (of all things!) and again a month or so ago at a neighborhood show. I noticed a woman with a concealed camera snapping pictures of one of my designs. My reaction both times has been the same: After I get over the initial anger, I decide to fix it so that the thieves can't profit. In the case of the rosary kits, I published on my website a complete, step-by-step set of illustrated instructions that anyone is free to copy and follow. When the necklace incident occurred, I did exactly the same thing, including a couple of little secrets that make it work. (If she relies on her photographs only, she's going to have structural problems.) I published my necklace instructions in my blog, which has a "Creative Commons-Some Rights Reserved" copyright. Anyone is free to make one of the necklaces for their private use or to give as a gift. The rosary instructions have turned out to be their own reward, having garnered a fair amount of praise and a wide circulation. I've "grown" them into a complete set of resource pages that include various appropriate gemstones and beads with information on how to select them. These have provided me with lots of visitors and buyers. One of these days, I plan to turn all that raw material into a book. As far as the necklace, I content myself with the thought that the would-be pirate probably doesn't read my blog. It pleases me to imagine her version of the necklace, with its heavy pendant, turning limp and giving 'way, possibly scattering umpteen grams of seed beads in its wake. ;-) This has happened to me twice–once several years ago with a “make your own” kit that I designed for rosaries (of all things!) and again a month or so ago at a neighborhood show. I noticed a woman with a concealed camera snapping pictures of one of my designs.

My reaction both times has been the same: After I get over the initial anger, I decide to fix it so that the thieves can’t profit. In the case of the rosary kits, I published on my website a complete, step-by-step set of illustrated instructions that anyone is free to copy and follow. When the necklace incident occurred, I did exactly the same thing, including a couple of little secrets that make it work. (If she relies on her photographs only, she’s going to have structural problems.) I published my necklace instructions in my blog, which has a “Creative Commons-Some Rights Reserved” copyright. Anyone is free to make one of the necklaces for their private use or to give as a gift.

The rosary instructions have turned out to be their own reward, having garnered a fair amount of praise and a wide circulation. I’ve “grown” them into a complete set of resource pages that include various appropriate gemstones and beads with information on how to select them. These have provided me with lots of visitors and buyers. One of these days, I plan to turn all that raw material into a book.

As far as the necklace, I content myself with the thought that the would-be pirate probably doesn’t read my blog. It pleases me to imagine her version of the necklace, with its heavy pendant, turning limp and giving ‘way, possibly scattering umpteen grams of seed beads in its wake. ;-)

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