I am kind of in the process of developing a line to take into some local jewelry stores. I say "kind of" because I haven’t decided exactly what I want to do, but I’m leaning in this direction. Most of my jewelry sales have been online so this is a new and unexplored world for me.
The necklace pictured below is hand-fabricated in sterling silver and hanging on an oxidized and brushed sterling silver bead chain. This particular work is a bit to rough for my liking, but it is definitely in the direction I want to go. Lately I am loving brushed silver oxidized jewelry as opposed to my usual highly buffed and shiny work.
In keeping with my usual "jewelry with a message" style, peace, of course, will be the central theme of the line. However, for various reasons I need to get away from the actual peace sign motif that I’ve been using so I am exploring other ways to express this in my work. It doesn’t mean I won’t use it any more, it just means that I need to explore new ways to say it.
There are, I believe, different paths to peace and the first and possibly most important path begins with oneself. To me, freedom of thought is an essential part of having peace of mind, and peace of mind is an essential part of promoting peace in ones own life, and ultimately peace in the world.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out. I have lots of ideas, but at the moment, not a lot of time to execute them. Spring/summer is such a fun time to create jewelry though because we are able to bare more skin and what looks better next to skin than beautiful jewelry?
Is there a way I can buy this necklace?
Thanks Antoinette. Over the weekend I suddenly got this very clear vision of the direction I want to go with my work (creatively, not business wise). Prior to that I was kind of just blindly going along. Not sure yet whether I will go to stores with it, but regardless, it’s nice to have a more concrete direction.
I LOVE this necklace. It is primal and refined all at the same time. I like the message of peace much better than the peace sign itself. I think for many people the peace symbol rings of the “60’s” and all the entails.
The thing to keep in mind with retail is that they will take quite a chunk vs selling it yourself. Most places do a 40% them, 60% you split. so the key is something you can produce quickly, for little expense on your part, so you’re still making enough profit for it to be worth your time.
I adore message jewelry and love your unique design with the circle. I also really like oxidized silver and prefer it to the high polish (personally).