Online Jewelry Store

Editors Comments:

This is an in-house article written by the founder of Jewelrysearch: Steve Blanchard

Online Jewelry Store, Basic Knowledge

By Steve Blanchard

Part 3

An Online Jewelry Store is without question one of the best starting points for your online business venture. Initial outlay is minimal, product is easy to handle and returns can be massive.

This article is part 3 of a 3 part tutorial that discusses some basic knowledge you should know when you decide that the jewelry industry is the path you want to take.

Watches

We could, and would like to write reams on watches as these were the catalyst behind our business. That said, this is not what we aim to achieve with this tutorial. We will give you some do's and don'ts. If you would then like further information, we recommend you pay the Wikipedia web site a visit. This is not intended to be a cop-out, but they have done an excellent job and why reinvent the wheel.

Lets have a quick look at the definition of a watch before we start:

"In naval parlance, watches are a timekeeping convention. The term in general use can mean any period of duty or responsibility, such as a hurricane watch.
A watch is a small portable clock that displays the time and sometimes the day, date, month and year. In modern times they are usually worn on the wrist with a watch-strap (made of e.g. leather (often synthetic), metal, or nylon), although before the 20th century most were pocket watches, which had covers and were carried separately, often in a pocket, and hooked to a watch chain.
Current watches are often digital watches, using a piezoelectric crystal, usually quartz, as an oscillator (see quartz clock).
Mechanical timepieces are still used, usually powered by a spring wound regularly by the user. The invention of "Automatic" or "Self-Winding" watches allowed for a constant winding without special action from the wearer: it works by an eccentric weight, called a winding rotor, that rotates to the movement of the wearer's body. The back-and-forth motion of the winding rotor couples to a ratchet to automatically wind the watch.
Watches may be collectible; they are often made of precious metals, and can be considered an article of jewelry." [1]

Any watch enthusiast you speak to would advise you to concentrate on mechanical timepieces, either hand wound or automatic. If you know what you are doing and enjoy repairing watches, this is fine.
There are however several pitfalls, the main one stemming from the quality and origin of the movement.
The rule is, if your supplier comes on recommendation and the watch is Swiss, there shouldn't be a problem concerning the quality, the problem in this case is the cost. Significant amounts of money can become quickly tied up so unless you are well funded, leave Swiss mechanical watches alone to begin with. Mechanical watches made in China are an inexpensive alternative. Generally speaking, these are very low quality and you will definitely experience after-sale problems.

Remember, there is a lot more money to be made selling watches in volume than spending half a day carrying out a complicated repair.

Our advice is that you offer good quality, branded quartz watches for sale, Swiss made, if bought at the right price are preferable but not a must.
You will have very few after-sale problems apart from the odd battery change which can normally be avoided by including a free battery. Good for customer relations and a lot less money than shipping the watch back and forwards.

[1] Website `Wikipedia´ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watches#Pocket_clock (accessed 15.11.2005)