Why help other jewellers and designers?
The decision to dedicate a portion of their studio time to other jewellers’ projects was motivated by two factors. “This was a logical compromise for us. It would allow us to bring in revenues, which would give us the freedom we need to do what we love: create,” explains Serafino. Moreover, producing for others requires no investment beyond the tooling a bench jeweller already has in a studio. In other words, there is no risk involved.
The residual effect is a stronger local jewellery community, where more designers are getting more done, more efficiently.
Strength through collaboration
In April 2017, Morf and Serafino moved their studio to a bright, spacious suite in Montreal’s Cathcart Building, and brought in other bench jewellers, including Benjamin Rembeault, not as employees, but as collaborators. Together, they are colleagues who complement each other, and can offer a broader, more comprehensive range of services and expertise to their clients.
There are a few obvious reasons for collaborating, such as sharing the expense of a commercial space and overhead, which takes away some of the stress of an unpredictable market and slower times of the year. As an added perk, business continues to operate even when they go on holidays because there is always someone at the studio to answer the phone or door.
On a slightly more philosophical note, Serafino explains part of the rationale behind the collaborative approach is the simple fact that different clients will instinctively gravitate towards a different collaborator. By being a strong horizontal team, every client receives the very best in personalized service. It’s a win-win for all.
Sharing secrets
One of the key pillars of the Serafino collaborative approach is knowledge sharing. Everyone has their own unique expertise and they freely exchange information with one another. This openness to sharing is also extended to clients like me, which means that everyone’s projects advance together, and we help build a stronger and more vibrant industry.
This outlook defies conventional thinking. How many bench jewellers work in a bubble and guard trade secrets for fear of being copied or for being less successful than another jeweller?
In my observation, wisdom of the industry’s new era would dictate when information and knowledge is shared, business is more successful because the exchange is bilateral. Simply, when one succeeds, we all succeed because it shines a brighter spotlight on our creative industry as a whole. This, in turn, creates greater consumer demand.
