FMG now has Hill Tribe Silver!

OH MAN. Why'd you have to tell me? I'm not wavering, though. I won't buy
from Fire Mountain Gems. (choke a *rabbit?*..... sobbing)

I just received my July-September, 2003 flyer from Fire Mountain
Gems and just about fell over! The first *18* pages are full sized
pics of their new line of Hill Tribe Silver, along with a story and
photos of the villagers they purchased the silver from.

There are unbelievable shapes - and the flowers, leaves, cones,
fish, a new dragonfly shape, a rabbit, seed bead size... whew! Many
are shapes and sizes that I haven't seen before, and I've cruised
plenty of online shops looking for Hill Tribe Silver. They are all
simply gorgeous! (I know where my next gallery check is going)


~~
Sooz
-------
ESBC
~ Dr. Sooz's Bead Links
http://airandearth.netfirms.com/soozlinkslist.html
~ Bead Notes: Beading information A - Z
http://www.lampwork.net/beadnotes.html

~weeping! (blub blub)~ Thank you, Kathy.

Take a look at www.jewelweaver.com She just got a bunch of real Hill Tribe
silver in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Her stuff is nicer, and doesn't
give me the ethical problems at FMG does.

Kathy N-V


~~
Sooz
-------
ESBC
~ Dr. Sooz's Bead Links
http://airandearth.netfirms.com/soozlinkslist.html
~ Bead Notes: Beading information A - Z
http://www.lampwork.net/beadnotes.html

Marjean is getting some in also, and you wouldn't have to buy it from FMG.


Becki
But what it sounded like
when she yelled was, "She prefers dicks". --Tina

I'll ask again (sorry I'm a late arriver) What's the deal with FMG? I'm not
being nosey, but I don't want to buy from someone if there's an issue.


"Kathy N-V" wrote in message
.com...
On Tue, 22 Jul 2003 18:07:42 -0400, bluemaxx wrote
(in message OAiTa.119411$N7.16683@sccrnsc03):

I just received my July-September, 2003 flyer from Fire Mountain
Gems and just about fell over! The first *18* pages are full sized
pics of their new line of Hill Tribe Silver, along with a story and
photos of the villagers they purchased the silver from.

There are unbelievable shapes - and the flowers, leaves, cones,
fish, a new dragonfly shape, a rabbit, seed bead size... whew! Many
are shapes and sizes that I haven't seen before, and I've cruised
plenty of online shops looking for Hill Tribe Silver. They are all
simply gorgeous! (I know where my next gallery check is going)


Take a look at www.jewelweaver.com She just got a bunch of real Hill
Tribe
silver in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Her stuff is nicer, and doesn't
give me the ethical problems at FMG does.

Kathy N-V

"CLP" wrote in message
news:UlmTa.17975$zd4.15488@lakeread02...
: I'll ask again (sorry I'm a late arriver) What's the deal with
FMG? I'm not
: being nosey, but I don't want to buy from someone if there's an
issue.


I'd like to know the real issue behind it also. I did read some
posts *quite* awhile back (years) about there being certain jewelry
designs in their catalog that were stolen from people. But it was a
*long time ago and I haven't read anything about them currently
doing that.

Has anyone else heard of them currently doing that??? Every design
that I've paid attention to in their catalog and in their ads is
always attributed to whoever made it and I'm assuming these people
gave their permission. Am I wrong?

I also can't see punishing a business *forever* just because of past
mistakes... that's quite a brush to tar with... and certainly not if
they've "cleaned up their act" since years have gone by since this
first originally happened. I'm not a vindictive or vengeful person
and although I haven't purchased much from FMG but for certain cut
gemstones, I don't see why I shouldn't purchase Thailand silver from
them now in order to save myself a *lot* of money. I don't have a
wholesale license and I am not a volume buyer.

I'd love to buy from these other sources... but do they give a
quantity discount per *piece*, as FMG does?? (i.e., buy 3-5 pieces,
get a discount - buy 6+, get another discount) Every source that
I've bought my Hilltribe Silver from - whether it's eBay sellers or
from various websites - I've never been able to get a "piece"
discount from any of them. Example; I can save $1.51 *per piece* on
a certain flower bead that I want if I buy 3 of them/or save $2.62
*per piece* if I buy 6 of them. That's a lot of money saved.
--
Linda

:
: "Kathy N-V" wrote in message
: .com...
: On Tue, 22 Jul 2003 18:07:42 -0400, bluemaxx wrote
: (in message OAiTa.119411$N7.16683@sccrnsc03):
:
: I just received my July-September, 2003 flyer from Fire
Mountain
: Gems and just about fell over! The first *18* pages are full
sized
: pics of their new line of Hill Tribe Silver, along with a
story and
: photos of the villagers they purchased the silver from.
:
: There are unbelievable shapes - and the flowers, leaves,
cones,
: fish, a new dragonfly shape, a rabbit, seed bead size... whew!
Many
: are shapes and sizes that I haven't seen before, and I've
cruised
: plenty of online shops looking for Hill Tribe Silver. They
are all
: simply gorgeous! (I know where my next gallery check is
going)
:
:
: Take a look at www.jewelweaver.com She just got a bunch of real
Hill
: Tribe
: silver in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Her stuff is nicer,
and doesn't
: give me the ethical problems at FMG does.
:
: Kathy N-V
:
:
:

Ohhhhh....I was wondering what "Hill Tribe Silver" was....hadn't heard of
it.... so I just went to check out the jewelweaver website to see.... OHHHHHH!
So THAT'S what I just bought!!!!

Carol, you shouldda gone to the Gem Faire! There was a lady there with a whole
table full of this stuff! VERY cool! (Yep, I bought a rather large
quantity......hehehehehehe!)

Suedo
(like "pseudo", though I'm no phony baloney!)
http://members.aol.com/suedotlund

Namaste

I'm not suggesting that anyone boycott anything. I refuse to buy from them.
That is my choice. I didn't personally know the vendors that were violated but
I knew their work. They will never get any of my business. You all do what
you want.


Becki
But what it sounded like
when she yelled was, "She prefers dicks". --Tina

There was a lady there with a whole table full of this stuff! VERY cool!
(Yep, I bought a rather large quantity

OK, Sue - let's have "show and tell!!!!!!"

Carol in SLC
My eBay auctions:
http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...include=0&user
id=celestialbeads&sort=3&rows=25&since=-1&rd=1

These are the exact reasons why I don't buy from them. I totally have
nothing against anyone else buying from them - but I won't ever, mostly
because of the lampwork thing. It's a pet peeve. I don't approve of the
"artisan made" label being put on something that's mass produced. The
lampwork FMG sells is made overseas in huge factories by people who are
making very little money. Those people are not artists - they are
production workers making the same style of bead over and over and over
again as fast as they possibly can, and with very little technical expertise
or creativity, because they have people looking over their shoulders saying
"go faster!!" That to me is not art. It's exploitation. Therefore, FMG
should not be allowed to say that these beads are artist made. It's false
advertising and it ****es me off immensely. Lampwork is not meant to be
mass produced. There are so many other forms of glass beads being mass
produced.... LOL - damn, I am becoming really good friends with this soap
box!!

--
Kandice Seeber
Air & Earth Designs
http://www.lampwork.net


1. Quality - Not the best. Not even close to the best. The photos in
their
catalogs are nothing like the actual products that I've received. I don't
want to waste my time on inferior products.

2. Price - I can usually do better than even the quantity prices that FMG
offers, and for nicer goods.

3. Misleading advertisements - I've seen crummy cast silver beads passed
off
as real Bali silver, and cheap Indian lampwork passed off as artisan made
goods. The trouble is that people unknowingly buy this stuff, thinking
it's
the real thing, and never end up knowing how nice the real thing actually
is.

For instance, Lampwork. Say that I bought some lampwork from the catalog,
thinking that this is the Real Deal, and that an artisan somewhere spent
up
to five hours making the bead. After all, that's what the ad says. Then
I
get a bead that is still full of bead release, has muddy colors and breaks
when I look at it, because it was never annealed. In all likelihood, that
would turn me off of lampwork for life. I'd never even think of
purchasing
one of the real works of art that I see in this group every day, because I
think that lampwork is that junk that shattered on me five seconds after I
bought it.

4. Slave and/or child labor - This is my main reason for not buying from
FMG. In the previous paragraph, I mentioned that the advertisement said
that
the featured beads took up to five hours apiece to make. These same beads
sell for about $2/apiece. Say that FMG took no profit on them, and that
there was no middleman's profit. Also, imagine that there were no
material
costs, and that the torch time was free of charge. If every cent of that
$2
went to the beadmaker, that's only $0.40/hour.

Now, we all know that FMG takes their cut, and that there are middlemen,
materials and shipping costs. All that overhead means at least half and
probably 3/4 of my $2 purchase price never gets as far as the factory that
made the beads. The worker probably makes no more than half of what goes
to
the factory. Doing the math, that means the worker got no more than $0.25
for making the bead. Five hours work for a quarter? To me, that spells
either slave, prison and/or child labor. I don't want to ever support
such
things with my money.

5. Race to the Bottom - Because FMG buys such huge quantities, compared to
smaller vendors, they have a lot of clout in getting lower prices.
Eventually, their drive to get the lowest price and the most profit will
make
the production of handmade beads impossible. An artisan making beads will
not be able to support him or herself with her craft, and will have to
learn
something else. Young people aren't going to want to learn a skill that
cannot provide even a subsistance level of support. In the long run, the
craft itself will die out, and no one will be able to buy Bali beads or
artisan lampwork at any price.

(Yep, I bought a rather large quantity

OK, Sue - let's have "show and tell!!!!!!"

Carol in SLC

Hehehe - okay, but only with the disclaimer that it was a "rather large
quantity" for Sue, and NOWHERE near a "rather large quantity" for Carol! LOL

Suedo
(like "pseudo", though I'm no phony baloney!)
http://members.aol.com/suedotlund

Namaste