Most years jeweller Roger Taylor travels to Thailand to buy precious stones and tools and to Poland for amber.
The founder of Metal Crumble learnt his craft travelling the world – huddled in workshops watching jewellery-makers in Egypt’s markets and as a street trader in Europe.
His jewellery reflects his journey and, with 40 years behind him in the trade, his quality of workmanship and design has become very refined. The business recently celebrated 30 years in Stoke Newington.
Roger said: “I learnt a lot as I travelled. I bought amber in Eastern Europe and traded it for old coins in Nepal. I loved Khan el-Khalili market in Egypt - I can still remember the sounds of metal work clanging and echoing around the walls of the bazaar from my first visit there, way back."
Roger’s first trip to Poland was in 1990 and he visited Thailand a few years before that. Roger’s mum loved shopping and, when he was a child, she often took him to fashion boutiques.
He added: “It was the 70’s and I loved those quirky shops and remember thinking the people who ran them were pretty funny. As I got older, I realised running a store like that was a lifestyle choice as well as a livelihood. But in those days, you could rent a shop in London for just £125 per week. We did just that with Metal crumble.”
“I left school at 16 and worked for a brief time on a building site and in Tesco but when I was 18 ,I went travelling and became fascinated by people and then slowly, by jewellery also. To many people around the world jewellery is identity, I sold my first creation – a macrame bracelet – on the steps of Athens University. Later I became a street seller in Covent Garden, making quite intricate jewellery with wires and beads.”
Roger sold his more exotic creations at festivals. Touring the land in vehicles, hard travels sometimes but lots of camaraderie and fun! He went on to rent a workshop at the Stables Market in Camden and in 1995, when the landlord asked for the space back, he and his workshop bench-mates moved to Stoke Newington.
Thirty years later Metal Crumble sells quality, handmade silver and gold jewellery many pieces with beautiful stones. But when it first opened, the store was quite different – the jewellery was cheaper and made of metals such as bronze and copper as well as silver and glass beads.
Roger explained: “The financial crisis in 2008/09 was the motivation I needed to make some big changes, I realised I had to, just to survive the times. To make the business better and sell more quality jewellery, and it worked.
“Jewellery brings you closely into peoples’ lives – it can be very emotional – whether you’re making wedding or engagement rings, engraving something or renovating jewellery that belonged to a loved one.”
Roger is lucky enough to have friends all over the world. He likes languages and has managed to study some along the way. When he is abroad, such as in Gdansk, Poland, he enjoys sociable nights out with amber traders. But the pandemic hit retail hard and his shop was no exception – in addition to losing friends to Coronavirus, the business lost trade and he greatly missed the social aspect of running a shop.
Asked what lessons he’s learnt after three decades running a small business, he said: “My advice to others is be patient. Decide how much you really like what you’re doing and if you can make a living from it. There will be low points – this time it was the pandemic, before it was the economic crisis but hold your nerve - its worth it!”
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