Therefore, I'm going to describe the way that platinum jewelry has evolved and recount some of my personal experiences and observations. I'm going to share with you the way that I feel about platinum, what drives my loyalty, and why I would like to see everyone in our industry infected with passion for platinum in the same way that I am.

Let's begin by defining a key word to this discussion -relationship. The American Heritage Dictionary defines relationship as "a logical or natural association between two or more things; relevance of one to another; connection… .kinship". By sheer definition, our relationship with what we do each day is the most important aspect to consider if we want to add value to our work

It makes perfect sense to ask yourself if you think in terms

of the relationship that you have with the product that you make or sell. I do - and I know that I've been having a mutually beneficial relationship with platinum for seventeen years. For each of those seventeen years, platinum and I have been connected: working together towards the same end.

During that time, many different people have made tremendous efforts, developing new technology, formulating marketing strategy, and stumping for consumer awareness. The last time that I presented a paper on Platinum Day, I spoke about combining different manufacturing techniques in the production of platinum jewelry. That was a technical paper. While the technology of platinum manufacturing gives you an important base to become a good platinum artisan, it is only one step in the progression necessary to be successful with platinum. The other step is that you must develop a parallel philosophy, one that grows with and supports your technical success. In other words, define how much you believe in what you're doing and why.

Platinum Guild International USA 2004   All Rights Reserved

2 of 18