Jeweller - May 2021

Editor’s Desk
One part water, one part soil and sharp scissors
Recognising root rot is the first step towards saving a plant or tree, and just like gardening,
a ‘dying’ business can often be saved by a repot and a solid prune. ANGELA HAN shares her experiences.
Leaders and numbers
have one thing in common...
They both speak for themsel ves !
PUBLICATION
GLOBAL
RANKING
TIME SPENT
PER VISITOR
PAGE VIEWS
PER VISITOR
COUNTRY
1 Jeweller 66,094 25:31 14 Australia
2 JCK 73,914 02:03 1.6 USA
3 National Jeweller 118,273 01:49 1.8 USA
4
Jewellery Net Asia 136,914 07:11 6.7 Hong Kong
5 Rapaport Magazine 145,914 01:57 1.6 USA
* Alexa Global Ranking statistics as at 30 March 2021
Jeweller been the leading voice of the Australian and New
Zealand jewellery industries for more than two decades.
Today we rank #1 in the world.
Alexa, the independent global ranking system for measuring
website traffi c and readership, now ranks jewellermagazine.com
as the most widely read industry publication in the world.
Better still, the daily time spent on jewellermagazine.com averages
25 minutes, which far exceeds all other industry titles that average
only 2–3 minutes per visitor, while Jeweller’s social media presence
dominates and our eMags boast over 12.1 million reads.
It’s clear, the numbers speak for themselves -
follow the leader, and follow the readers too!
Being a gardening enthusiast, I have a
predilection for rescuing dying plants. As
long as the roots are still healthy, there is
always a chance it can be saved with some
attention and care. While not all survive,
it’s immensely edifying when they do.
One of my proudest ‘rescues’ is a Hindu
rope plant that I bought for a few dollars.
Looking more dead than alive, I should have
thought better than to take something home
that may introduce new pests into my miniecosystem,
but still took the risk knowing it
was a rare find.
I was told that the clusters of gem-like
petals smelled of dark chocolate, which
would intensify as the sun went down.
Armed with hope and a bag of dirt, I was
determined to save it. Having done some
research, I knew it would need to be tightly
root-bound in arid soil with a few hours of
indirect sun each day – and given the rot in
its roots, even more care would be needed.
Because it takes Hindu rope plants anywhere
between five and seven years to mature
and finally flower, there was not a second to
waste if I wanted to nurse it back to health
and see it blossom!
Caring for plants teaches the limitations
of what is, and isn’t, within my control,
especially having to work at the pace of
Mother Nature and Father Time.
Of the many lessons that the natural world
reveals, here are the most important:
A time to love, a time to hold back
It doesn’t take long to discover each plants’
particularities, with some being more ‘needy’
than others. Tropical Calatheas can develop
brown edges around the vibrant leaves if you
so much as look at it the wrong way, while
the hardy Zamioculcas thrives on neglect.
Either way, it’s commonplace to kill
houseplants with kindness, especially when
you’re trying to rescue one.
Similarly, our professional and work lives
require varying degrees of attention in order
to succeed, and excessive time spent serving
the wrong needs can have destructive
consequences.
For example, spending too much time
watching the bottom-line could be detrimental
to your creative output; if the soul of your
business suffers, at a certain point there will
be no bottom-line left to manage.
Inversely, spending too much time on
creativity and neglecting the bottom-line
could lead to cost blow-outs and wasted
energy, whittling away the profit margin on
even the most perfect product.
To have a flourishing business, it’s imperative
to regularly assess which areas need more –
or less – attention and adjust your behaviour
to address problems before it’s too late.
Good ideas, and new businesses, are most
fragile at conception; close monitoring
is necessary but care must be taken not
to ‘overwater’ or ‘over feed’. You can only
expect to yield results under the right
conditions (controllable) at the right time
(uncontrollable).
Fine-tuning small things each day can
make a vast difference to ensure your
business thrives.
A time to prune, a time to harvest
Ruthless pruning at the right time, and
in the right place, is the golden rule of
green-thumbed people; roses bloom with
a vengeance after a good pruning, and
peaches are sweetest after they’ve blushed.
Like an untended garden, it’s easy to
let innocent overgrowth consume your
income and unclipped branches choke the
business. However, making the right cuts
will yield immediate changes and can turn
a malnourished business into one that is
robust and ready for growth.
“Is there a need to finally address dead
stock and throw away the tired old window
displays?”
“Do I need to sever ties with non-paying
clients or deal with toxic staff members?”
“Have I reviewed unnecessary business
expenses that have grown out of control,
like weeds?”
Pruning can sometimes feel ruthless when
you’re staring at a barebone branch, but
patience is always rewarded in time with a
more bountiful harvest.
Pruning can
sometimes feel
ruthless when
you’re staring
at a barebone
branch, but
patience
is always
rewarded in
time with a
more bountiful
harvest.
A time for life, a time for death
It’s easy to feel like a failure when you’re
holding a dead plant over a rubbish or
compost bin.
“What could I have done differently?” is a
question that has haunted anyone who has
failed to bring their vision to fruition.
Yet, even after doing everything right, there
are some projects that will fail for reasons
beyond comprehension.
Luckily, as it turns out, death isn’t the
opposite of life – but a critical part of it.
In fact, many cultures believe that death
completes and fuels the next cycle of life.
In between the two points of existence,
we simply learn to accept the storm, and
cooperate with the wind and sun.
So, remove dead matter, learn from your
mistakes and prepare the ground for new
endeavours. With the change in seasons
comes a sequence of opportunities that
can become a gift to nurture resilience
and strength.
A high school teacher, who was an avid
gardener herself, once told me her daily
prayer: “Lord, grant me the serenity to
accept the things I cannot change, courage
to change the things I can, and wisdom to
know the difference.”
For those wondering, my Hindu rope
plant flourished and flowered within three
years, and has continued to multiply
each year since. The more clippings I
share with friends and colleagues, the
more it seems to grow. Six years on, this
overachieving ex-runt thrives on neglect
and boasts ropes of dark glossy leaves
draping to the floor.
And yes, the rumour was true; through
the nights of spring and summer, the pink
flowers of the Hindu rope plant exude a
rich chocolate perfume that comes alive
when the sun goes down.
Now if you’d excuse me, I have some
pruning to do!
Angela Han
Publisher
JEWELLERMAGAZINE.COM
May 2021 | 14