New Beginnings

Vicenza 2024

My name is Rachel Porter and I am the wife of Simon Porter. I have been a teacher for three decades but decided to leave the profession and experience something altogether different and come and work with my husband. We have been married for 20 years and although the business has been spoken about frequently in the family home, it is quite different to see it from the inside. My intention is to share with you my first impressions of working within this 5th generation family business and take you behind the scenes of James Porter & Son.

I have been amazed at the many facets involved in running a Jewellery business and am in awe of the knowledge and talents that the staff possess. The vast majority of the employees have worked in the Argyll Arcade for many years and they are all dedicated to giving the customers the best possible experience when visiting the stores. Initially my role has been to observe and learn from those around me and try to understand the complexities of selling jewellery.

My first venture into this new world was accompanying my husband on a trip to Italy to visit the January trade show in Vicenza. The event is held twice a year (September and January) and 1300 exhibitors from 34 countries travel to the city to showcase their collections for the coming year. Vicenza is situated in the North East of the country and is approximately 37 miles west of Venice. It is one of the Italy's wealthiest cities and 1/5 of the country's jewellery is made here. This year the event was celebrating its 70th anniversary and would prove to be quite spectacular.

We chose to stay in Venice which is an hour from the city of Vicenza. The train was our mode of transport and we enjoyed the beautiful blue skies as we made our way on the first day. A bus shuttled us to the exhibition centre and we swiftly made our way inside. Appointments had been made with suppliers but we had allowed time to walk around the seven halls to absorb all that was on display. After a quick coffee and delicious pastry, we made our way to our first meeting.

As we travelled through the show we were wowed by the displays, colours and designs. Each stand had taken great care to entice the visitors and there was clearly competition between the brands to stand out from the crowd. The floral arrangements were stunning and each one was unique. I was astounded by the array of jewellery and the melting pot of nationalities and styles on display. It was indeed a feast for the eyes.

One of our first meetings was with Maple Leaf, a Canadian based company Simon has worked with for many years. We were met by their designer Sandy and their UK rep, Cherry. The jewellery was shown to us and Simon was delighted to select pieces which had historically sold well in his stores. Sandy was keen to get feedback on some of her new creations and embraced the suggestions Simon gave, which may make them more appealing to the British market. It was fascinating to watch the exchange of ideas between two individuals from different areas of the industry come together to enhance the product for the customer.

I am sure it would be incredibly easy to get carried away with all that was on show, but Simon is extremely careful and will admire beautiful pieces, but remain focused on the market he is purchasing for. They may well be dazzling in Italy, but would they work back in Glasgow?

The displays were simple but so beautiful and the floral displays added colour and energy to the collections. Fragrance and candles were used to create a relaxing ambience and there was a feeling of being in a 5 star hotel as opposed to an exhibition centre. The slogan for the show is 'The heritage for tomorrow' and there is a strong emphasis on the products being cherished and admired, not just for now, but in the years to come. 

As the day came to a close we retraced our steps and headed back to the station. We relaxed into our seats on the train and rejoiced in the wonderfully efficient Italia Rail employee who offered a glass of Prosecco as we hurtled back to Venice. Although we were exhausted, it had been a wonderful event and Simon felt quite happy with the orders he had made.

My first experience of being at a Trade Show had been exhilarating and thrilling and I had new admiration for my husband at making challenging choices when faced with such an array of beautiful items. He was excited to show the team back at the stores what he had ordered and was motivated by what he had seen when displaying the products in his own windows.

I felt I had learned so much in my time away and I certainly had relished seeing the entire production chain under one roof. The jewellery, displays, fashion and prosecco had been fabulous and certainly beat a rainy day on playground duty! I look forward to the next stage of my training.