I have seen a greater number of people who claim they are allergic to metals but only so with their ear lobes. Case in point is a lady who wanted to purchase some new earrings, but told me about her allergy to most metals. She explained her favorite pair of earrings made of sterling silver always made her ears sore for a couple of days after she wore them. She wanted to have another pair of earrings made like her favorite ones, but using a metal other than sterling. An interesting fact is she had no problem wearing sterling silver necklaces and rings.

I was struggling with the fact that only earrings created the “allergic” reaction.

As an experiment to see if she would react to Argentium silver, my preferred silver, I sent her home wearing a pair of our Argentium earrings. I told her to wear them for a couple of days to see how she faired with the different silver. She left her favorite ones with me.

Three days later, she called to say her ears were just fine and loved the Argentium silver, and of course, wanted to have Rena make a new pair similar to her favorite ones. I told her Rena would be very happy to make another pair of earrings, but first could she stop by for another test.

This time I had her wear her “favorite” earrings and to let me know how her ears felt the following day. Long story short, her ears had no problems with her “favorite” earrings.

So what was the problem with the lady’s “favorite” earrings? Unfinished ear wires. Yes, it was as simple as smoothing and rounding her ear wires.

The person who created the earrings had used a flush cutter to cut the end of the ear wire. It looked nice, but under a magnifier, I could see the edges of the ear wire were very sharp. When the lady would put the earrings on, the sharp edges of the ear wire cut or scraped her ear lobes and made them sore and irritated. She did not have any allergy to sterling silver!

Finishing of all jewelry is very important, but the finishing of ear wire is critical to the wearer. And it is so easy to accomplish.

Carefully round all edges of the ear wire with a fine file or a cup burr. Then inspect for any possible problems by feeling the wire end and checking it with a 10X loupe. It should be smooth and easy to insert into one’s ear.

And yes, I did lose a possible sale, but the lady has since sent many of her friends to buy our jewelry because I was honest and helpful.

Rena & Gary

Being a vendor we are basically the promoters customers. Treat your customers well and you keep them for many years. Any good businessperson knows that simple fact. Show me your only concern is how much money you can make and my loyalty as a customer is lost.

Where am I going with all of this you might ask? We did a show with a new promotional company called MalicJewels at the Reno/Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority. The Monday before the show I was getting a little nervous about the promotion of the show, so I called MalicJewels office and asked about the advertising for the up coming show. The person I talked with was one of the owners and she happily gave me the complete list of each place they were placing advertising for the show. Being the skeptic I am, I called all of the radio stations and the local newspaper to see if what I had been told was true. Not only did I find it to be true, but, each place I called commented on how easy MalicJewels were to work with and they paid promptly. Ok, good indicator!

When we arrived at the show for setup, we were warmly greeted and quickly taken to our designated booth. To our surprise we were given a larger booth than we had sign up for at no extra costs. The one quoted fee included the booth, tables, coverings and skirts, light stands and electricity. In other words, there were no surprises.

One of the owners, Debbie, was on the floor at all times, and anything we needed she was there to help. MalicJewels bent over backwards to treat us well and make us feel welcome and important. The experience with Debbie and all of her staff was such a positive one that we will be doing other shows with them in the future.

MalicJewels does about 80 shows a year around the country. You might want to check them out at MalicJewels.com and see if they have a show near you that you might consider displaying your wares. You will enjoy your experience with them.