Stone Mania

Whilst still at school I spent many Saturdays and school holidays working with my father on one of his market stalls.  I didn't really enjoy it and he was well aware that I had no interest in wanting to take over his business even though it was pretty successful. Market life just wasn't for me so it was a little ironic that more than twenty years later after initially following a completely different career path, I found myself once again working the markets after having set up a small jewellery business.  

After leaving school in 1984 I worked for Thomson Holidays for a few years both in the UK and overseas before leaving to join a newly set up airline called Virgin Atlantic. Initially flying to the USA and Japan, I loved travelling and the world was now my oyster.  In 1999 a new route to Delhi was announced and I was excited to find myself on one of the first flights.  As the schedule was initially twice a week, it meant one of the trips gave the crew five nights in Delhi which was amazing.

India is a fascinating country and during my first trip to Delhi, I found myself on more than one occasion in one of the many markets in and around the city.  Markets in India are absolutely amazing places and it wasn't long before I started thinking about the possibility of buying a few bits to sell back in the UK.  My attention was captured by the vast amounts of jewellery and I was fascinated by all the different gemstones.  Temptation soon got the better of me and before long, I was buying a few pieces here and there but hadn't yet decided whether they were to be for gifts or to sell on eBay!

Upon arriving home, some pieces were given as presents whilst the rest quickly sold on eBay.  Before long I was on my way back to Delhi for a second time and had already decided to buy more jewellery.  Over the next few months, I started to make a nice little profit from what I was buying and soon realized there could be a future in this.  As my visits to Delhi increased, so did the volume of jewellery that I was buying and I quickly became more selective instead of buying anything and everything.  I also lost interest in plain silver and concentrated my efforts on pieces with gemstones.  As time went by, I started finding new places to buy jewellery away from the market and also began looking at finer quality jewellery.  As my stock began to grow, I thought it was time to look for another outlet other than eBay and before long was trading in Camden market.

I had by this time created a company called 'Silver People' and had a logo to use on my new website, but because I was no longer buying plain silver jewellery, the name was already inappropriate so it was back to the drawing board to find something which more accurately described the kind of jewellery that I was selling.

As the business took off, I went part time with Virgin Atlantic which meant I had more time to spend with my newly founded business and over the coming months, it went from strength to strength. Quality was now a top priority and the days of buying jewellery in the markets of Delhi were long gone. I found some wonderful suppliers who designed and exported jewellery to many countries around the world and my knowledge of gemstones had also increased dramatically. Silver People had become 'Stone Mania' and my sudden interest in gemstones fascinated my family because my grandfather and great grandfather had both been diamond polishers and up to a short while ago, I had never looked at or handled a gemstone in my life!

As well as trading in Camden I also took a pitch in St Albans market in Hertfordshire but then decided to drop Camden as I couldn't manage both and St Albans was definitely the better of the two. I quickly built up a circle of regular customers and became well known for the quality of my gemstones.  My display was something I continually struggled with and looking back to those early days, it amazes me how I ever managed to sell anything at all!

My collection of jewellery now included so many different gemstone varieties that I wanted to display them all and it took me some time to understand that I really didn't need to display everything at the same time!

Whilst in London one afternoon, I stumbled across Leather Lane market which runs parallel to Hatton Garden and mainly serves office workers during their lunch break. It's only a small lunch time market but is quite well known and so I decided to see if I could get a place there.  My application was accepted and I was the only trader selling jewellery featuring gemstones which was probably because of its location, however I was there for almost a year and did pretty well. My only reason for moving on was because I had started doing shows and couldn't manage those and the markets.

When the weather was fine, Leather Lane was charismatic and fun but in the winter it was really tough.

Stone Mania was now well established and each time I bought jewellery, I looked for finer quality gemstones, silver and workmanship. During one of my regular trips to India, I was having dinner with one of my suppliers and was introduced to a wholesaler who dealt solely in loose gemstones as opposed to ready-made jewellery. Upon hearing how passionate I was about my business, he asked why I was still buying ready-made jewellery and not choosing the gemstones loose and then having the piece of jewellery made around the gemstone. It's something I hadn't considered and it soon became clear that if I wanted to continue improving the quality of my gemstones and jewellery, this was the way to go.  The following morning I was invited to look around at what I can only describe as the ultimate Aladdin's Cave and I immediately knew that Stone Mania would never sell ready made, mass produced jewellery again.  This place was packed with almost every gemstone imaginable and all the cutting and polishing was being done on the premises by their own craftsmen. Whatever size or shape of gemstone you wanted it was available and if it wasn't, it could be cut for you, whether you wanted low grade gemstones or the very finest available, they were all right there.  As I moved from room to room, I saw more gemstones than I ever could have imagined existed and just as I thought I had seen everything, I was ushered into yet another room where all the faceted gems were housed and I was then shown some of the most magnificent gemstones that I'd ever seen. 

That visit changed the way in which I did business forever and the quality of the gemstones I was using in my jewellery improved dramatically in a very short space of time.  I was now choosing each gemstone individually and then having the piece of jewellery designed around the gemstone but since my design skills were almost non existent, a simple pendant or ring seemed the best idea.  Although my collection does now include a few special necklaces and many ready made earrings, I actually specialize in pendants and rings.  

Having decided to move on from the markets, I started doing a variety of shows up and down the country. It was like starting all over again as I had no idea what to expect or how my jewellery would be received and the type of customer was also very different. My display was gradually improving and the shows quickly took off just as the markets had and I was soon doing a number of large events and trade shows.

Finally everything was coming together and Stone Mania continued to go from strength to strength.  It had grown from being a small business selling a few pieces of random jewellery bought from a market in Delhi to being a serious retailer with an extensive and varied range of magnificent gemstones.

2008 was Stone Mania's third year at the London ideal home show and although we did okay, things were definitely down on the previous two years. There were whisperings of a looming credit crunch and both traders and consumers were becoming distinctively nervous. I had come a long way in the past few years and had no intention of losing my business to what was being predicted as the largest consumer slow down for many years. Jewellery is a luxury item hence it is one of the first items that people spend less on when times get tough.  I had a huge stock and business was down by about 60% so I had to think quickly how I could minimise my losses.  Stands at shows were expensive and you needed to make good money to make them profitable so this was the first thing to go. I couldn't return to the markets because the quality of my jewellery was now far too exclusive so I decided to develop my website and concentrate on selling jewellery online.

The last couple of years has certainly been tough but thankfully Stone Mania has survived and we now only trade online.  Our logo has been updated to reflect the fine quality of our gemstones and we have also added a comprehensive, interesting and easy to read gemstone directory to our website which also features hundreds of onward links.  There are still plenty more enhancements planned so do be sure to check back regularly.

My journey from that first trip to Delhi has been exciting, challenging and at times very frustrating, but nobody ever said building a business was easy but I'm pleased to say, that it has definitely all been very worthwhile.