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Where are all the Suppliers?
(14-08-2007)

When I first started making jewellery a few years ago it was easy to find materials and suppliers. This was partly due the fact that I was at college and we had specific project and partly because it was all fairly basic stuff that I needed. Everyone on the course used to share bits and pieces with each and we found out the best things to use and the best places to go through trial and error.

 

Since I left college and started working on my own I have obviously needed more stock and also more variety in order to keep up-to-date and evolving my business. To start with I thought this would be easy I naïvely thought I would just be able to buy the things I wanted from the same suppliers I had used before but when I started to look more closely I realised that  there isn’t a great deal of choice form UK suppliers. At first I thought I must be wrong and missing an amazing site that stocked everything I wanted but no matter how hard I have looked I have not found it and what I am left asking myself is why?

 

I spend an inordinate amount of time and money buying from abroad – mainly the US. They have an abundance of incredible websites selling a constantly changing stock of components and beads. I am not just talking about round beads but all manner of shapes and sizes in the most unusual stones. Last year at Jewellery London there were more bead and stone suppliers than I have seen there before but still most were based in places like India and Tel Aviv and had only come over for the show. Many of them didn’t have websites that you could order from and so unless you were able to buy all your stock at the show they weren’t that practical. There were a few UK suppliers but again they either didn’t have websites or a huge amount of stock.

 

However that is just the gemstones and beads the other thing I can’t seem to find over here are the metal components and certain gauges of wire. For example I was surprised to find the other day that I couldn’t get any sterling silver square wire lower than 1mm.

 

I also have trouble find a good range of gold-filled products. I am a huge fan of gold-filled it has the look of gold without it being so expensive and lasts so much longer than plate. Jules Gems www.julesgems.com does have a nice selection of gold-filled wire but as for different styles of chain and other fancy components I can’t seem to find any UK stockists. Even though it is an American product I am still unsure why it as been so slow to take off over here, and I am surprised the more traditional Hatton Garden jewellery suppliers haven’t started stocking more than just gold-filled beads and findings. 

 

I can’t be the only person in this country that feels as though jewellery designers - whether they are hobbyists, students or those that run a business don’t’ have a great deal of choice product wise. There are several sellers on eBay who have started selling more unusual things but it can be irritating buying bits from all over the place as you are always waiting for something to arrive.

 

America just seems to be better geared up for buyers with a variety of websites selling huge selections of items of in one place.  I am hoping that this will soon happen here so that we can start getting making more diverse products and save on import tax!

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