Welcome to our latest studio report!
In our January post, we discussed that due to the weather and the holidays, not much (if any) time was spent in the studio, and instead focused on more administrative type of work, such as website development, taxes, and drafting policies. We now have a policies page up so you can find everything in one convenient location.
While we made a ton of progress on back of the house projects, the last few weeks of January has been an interesting, and one would say, tumultuous time in the United States with the transition of power to the new administration. The general climate is one of chaos and uncertainty, and it took its toll on our progress here at Roxue. The general posture of the new administration and its hostility to global trade (and favor of tariffs) has Roxue considering its sources of materials and whether to avoid international products generally.
For example, in the jewelry industry, India and Thailand are big hubs for the gemstone trade and there is a general question of if it will be feasible to source gemstones from outside of the United States. To that end, we are considering only focusing on gemstones mined and sold within the borders of United States. While it would be a unique selling proposition, the cost would be considerably higher and may limit our options for design. That’s not to say it isn’t worth it; rather, it’s just another variable to contemplate and something we’re thinking about.
Another consideration is packaging materials, as there is not a large hub for manufacturing such items within the U.S., and most vendors get their products from China. A pending tariff war with China would cause problems for many jewelry retailers who source their packaging from abroad. This also doesn’t include any considerations for jewelers who outsource their production overseas, who might also be impacted with tariffs.
Lastly the European Union passed the General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) which took effect on December 13, 2024, and has broad implications for anyone shipping products internationally to any country within the European Union. While it was meant to target companies selling fast fashion and very cheap consumables to ensure quality and safety of the products being imported, it unfortunately affects sellers of all types, including Roxue. Therefore, until we can spend the time to navigate the rules around GPSR, we have made the tough decision to only ship domestically and will not accept international orders.
Obviously, these are big ideas and decisions we’re grappling with, and it’s not something that will be resolved overnight. At the very least, we wanted to let readers know about our internal goings-on and some of the headwinds that might be coming up. But don’t worry; we will work through it!
With respect to studio time, February is shaping up to look a lot like January, unfortunately. Readers might wonder why we post “studio reports” when no work is happening in the studio? This is a good question, and frankly, the answer is that it’s about consistency. Even if no work is happening, we want to make it a point every month to give an update to readers, even if it’s about nothing. It helps with our internal planning every month that at least this update is going to go out. The studio report also helps with goal setting, because a lot of times what we write in here are promises to our future selves – it would be nice to keep our word and not look like a dingus. It may not always work out, but putting it in writing and posting it into the ether does provide a level of accountability, because someone will read it and say “hey, you said you were going to do this!” and we want to be a credible company that does what it says (as much as possible, at least).
Speaking of promises, it was mentioned in the January post that an informative article would be posted soon, and we delivered! It’s a short informational article about sterling silver and its properties, and why it is commonly used for making jewelry. If you’re interested in learning more, you can check it out here. This article inspired more ideas for informational content that are in the queue for drafting, so be sure to keep an eye out for that later in the year!
Looking forward to the rest of February and the beginning of March, again, the weather will be dictating how much time is spent in the studio. To the extent that no studio work will be happening, there’s still plenty more administrative and website development to work on. One project we have in mind is installing more insulation in our studio to help with heat loss. Ideally, we’d like to install heating in the studio as well, but that may be a future endeavor. In any case, we will be looking for other ways outside of administrative tasks to keep busy, such as skills development through a class or getting geared up for some new concept work. Hopefully by next month, an exciting update will await our readers!
Thanks for sticking around on this one. Until next time!