The Jewellery Tidal Wave

I recently visited the National Ploughing Championships held just North of Lincoln. The location was awash with tractors, horses and country product based stalls. It was a beautiful autumnal day, sunny and refreshing. Tucked away in a pair of connected marquees were the craft stands.

Once I'd walked around the various craft stalls I was amazed at the prevalence of jewellery stands. That is stands that either just sold jewellery or stands that sold jewellery alongside other craft items. I counted no less than nine stands with jewellery for sale. At a guess I'd say that jewellery accounted for over 30% of the stands. Why?

Well I have a few theories.

Theory 1: Convenience Factor. Jewellery is seen as a lot easier to deal with than ceramic, wooden items or even textiles. It's is smaller and lighter than many other craft products. It also has a higher value to weight ratio than practically any other craft product. Thus you have a saving in aching back muscles and transport costs. Practical issues that cannot be ignored.

Theory 2: The Higher (or any) Sales Mirage. Jewellery stands have been seen as more attractive to punters, and more lucrative, than other kinds of craft. It's only a small step from observing someone else's success to wanting to get in on the act yourself. After all, some jewellery is little more than stringing beads onto a bit of string. Hardly requiring the skills of a master goldsmith or the facilities of a precious metals workshop.

Theory 3: Desperation. The crafter who has a stand full of wares that nobody wants is easily tempted to add something else in the hope of making a sale. Jewellery is small, light and doesn't necessarily take up a lot of space. It might even attract someone to your stall who might decide that some of the other offerings might be worth purchasing.

But the downside for a visitor to such a jewellery dominated craft fair is the sheer boredom of seeing the same kind of product over and over again. At the National Ploughing Championships there was even one jewellery stand that must have been three stands long. It was immense. But it was also dull. Especially when you add in all the other stands selling jewellery as well. I felt that I'd arrived in some sort of jewellery market twilight zone. A place that I would never escape from unless I bought some jewellery. It's a bit like visiting a huge shopping mall where every other shop is selling sunglasses. You soon tire of the monotony and want to do nothing but leave.

Perhaps the organisers could take a look at their booking practices. They could make an effort to ensure that such an event isn't dominated by just one kind of craft. Frankly, it's in the interest of crafters as well as the visitors that an event has a good mix of wares on offer and the organisers should keep that in mind.