London Shows

[Patstone]

I am hoping to be accepted to see the International Jewellery Show in Earls Court, London on Sept 1st, is it worth going to as its a long way from Exeter to travel if its not. We have to do it in a day trip as my daughter is looking after our dogs and she is working on the Monday, so we have to be back before 7.00am when she starts work. Also does anyone know which train station is closest to Earls Court please.

[SteveLAO]

I guess it depends on a) what you're looking for and b) what you want to get out of it. Have a good old trawl through their website and see who is exhibiting, what the seminars are and so on and you'll get a good idea of whether you think its worth it. We have a stand there this year so I would think it's worth going just to see our lovely faces!!! :)

[ps_bond]

I'll be along there on Monday. I believe Jura is exhibiting this year too.

[kymbi]

I've not been to one of the IJL shows in London, so I can't comment on how good it is. I am going to this year's one though. Alan is exhibiting there.

The nearest underground is Earls Court, but you can get to it from most of the mainline stations in London. I presume that if you are travelling up from Exeter your train will arrive at Paddington Station? If it does, then you can get on the underground and take the district line (green line) direct to Earls Court, it's only 4 or 5 stops. A useful journey planning tool for the London transport system is here, it also has the tube map on it that you can download.
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/

Hope this helps x

[Patstone]

Thanks for all the info, if we decide to come up we will visit you Steve, we will probably be coming on the Sunday. Thanks for that Kym, will print it off later.

[ps_bond]

I wonder if Andrew Berry is demonstrating again this year? Well worth a look if he is!
(of course that's with a sort-of competitor so I'll be quiet now :) )

[susieq]

Pat - I've just checked the fares for the tube journey and it's a whopping £4.50 for a single cash fare!!! As you probably don't have access to anyone who can loan you their pay-as-you-go Oyster card (single fare using Oyster is £2.10) then assuming you're travelling on the Sunday you would be better off buying an off peak one day travel card - providing you don't stray outside zone 2 then you can use the card on underground and bus as many times as you like for £7.30.

Here's the link for the fare structure http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/14416.aspx

Here's the link for the tube map showing the various zones http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/standard-tube-map.pdf

If you travel to London now and again, it can be worth buying a pay as you go oyster card and hanging on to it. You pay £5.00 deposit for the card and then in addition you decide how much you want to put onto the card, so if you want £10 worth of travel, then initial cost will be £15.00. If you decide you no longer want the card, then you can cash it in at any tube station - they will refund you any money left on the card plus your £5 deposit. Just remember to touch in and touch out at the entry/exit gates as there are automatic penalty fares if you don't. On the plus side, there is no expiry date on money balances left on the card.

Pay as you go cards are not person specific, so we always keep a few spares handy at our house for visitors as cash fares on the underground are extortionate. As our family is flung far and wide, meeting them at Heathrow with oyster cards at the ready avoids lengthy queues.

I first went to IJL a couple of years ago and as a novice felt quite a fraud being there but as I went round I kept seeing designs that were not a million miles away from ideas I had and I came away feeling quite positive, just realising that I really needed to actually make, rather than plan. This is still my downfall - too many ideas which overtake each other in complexity and become way beyond my skill level. I was going to go again last year, but my OH had such complimentary (not!) things to say about things that I made (I think "Um" was the best he came up with) that I had a huge crisis of confidence and didn't go last year and then mentally kicked myself for not going. The most positive thing he said about me getting a makers mark (sorry, Steve, STILL on my list of things to do) was that once it was hallmarked my daughter could sell it for scrap!

So, am registered and plan to go this year, not sure which day as I have booked holiday which spans all the days it's on as son and DIL are over from Singapore and it's my daughter's 30th on the Tuesday (which is strange as I'm sure I'm still in my 30s even though it's my mother's face that looks back in the mirror). Probably Sunday or Monday. Just reminded me to look out those spare Oyster cards ... .

Susie

[SteveLAO]

Looking forward to seeing you susieq and helping you to knock off one of those "things to to" on your list! I'll be there on the Sunday Patstone so will see you too if you decide to brave it! :)

[ShinyLauren]

I've been every year since I graduated and I love it! I've been to some good seminars, seen some inspirational jewellery, and purchased some bargainous (not sure that's an actual word...) gemstones over the years.

Steve - I'm coming on Sunday so I'll pop by and say hi. I'm already registered with you guys anyway, but would be nice to put a face to the name :)

[Dennis]

Pat, if you arrive at Paddington, make your way to the underground and take a Wimbledon bound train to West Brompton. The IJL show will be just across the road and much nearer than Earls Court Station. Hope you enjoy it, Dennis.

[andrew_berry]

Yes, I am there again this year on the Sutton Tools stand E148. Not sure what new products I will be demonstrating this year but if any of you want to pop along and say Hi you are more than welcome.

Andrew

[SteveLAO]

Shiny lauren - look forward to meeting you! We're on stand i130.

[geti-titanium]

Yay! I'll be there too B112. First time I've done it so it had better not disappoint ! :-)

[caroleallen]

The only thing I remember about the show when I went was how hot it was under all those lights. If I was doing it, I'd take a fan!

[ShinyLauren]

Andrew, I always have a potter round Sutton tools stand - I've bought a few bits of equipment from them over the past couple of years and they're always been super friendly and helpful.

Alan - I'll definitely come by and say hello!

[andrew_berry]

Andrew, I always have a potter round Sutton tools stand - I've bought a few bits of equipment from them over the past couple of years and they're always been super friendly and helpful.

Alan - I'll definitely come by and say hello!

ShinyLauren, pop by and say Hi. I will be there every day.

[MeadMoon]

I've just received my registration confirmation - now just need to decide which day to go.

[Patstone]

There was a slight change of plan on my side about the show. Initially I asked my daughter if she wanted to come with me and she said no because she was going to the Assay Office one in October at Goldsmith Hall. Husband was coming with me instead, (I dont fancy wandering around London on my own for starters especially as not good at directions), so waited for the confirmation and mine duly arrived, then hubby said if she wanted daughter could use his ticket and he will dog sit instead. As the ticket was already registered, and the train ticket too, she accepted, but the IJS couldnt change hubbys name for hers, so she had to register separately and asked her boyfriend if he wants to come too as he also makes jewellery so we wait in anticipation for his registration documents to come so we can arrange train tickets for him,all the while the train tickets are going up in leaps and bounds, gone up £20 since me getting ours a week ago. If everything goes according to plan we are going up on Sunday.

[Patstone]

The story doesnt end there. My daughter booked her boyfriends train ticket with her phone app on the Thursday before the Sunday that we were due to travel, the money came out of her bank account and all she was told she had to do was appear at the station and use the machine to convert the number she was given into tickets. Luckily we got to the station half an hour before the train was due, so she went to the machine, typed in the ticket number - nothing, tried again, still nothing. So she went to the desk to ask for her ticket, they hadnt got a record of it on their system. She was able to log into her bank account on her phone and was able to show the woman behind the desk the transaction on her bank statement, so she could see that it was honest and above board. So £75 worse off, because she had to buy another ticket, or at least her boyfriend did, not a good start to a day. I suppose she will get refunded eventually but what is the point of having an app if it doesnt work.

[SteveLAO]

Oh my goodness...what a saga!!! Hope you found it worth it in the end though! If it's any consolation it took me 25 minutes to get offsite because of over enthusiastic security guards who wouldn't let me get to my car "for security reasons" !! grrr:mad::mad::mad:rrrrrr

[ps_bond]

But did you feel more secure?

[SteveLAO]

Oh ever so secure!!!! I tell you there were a lot of angry people who couldn't get to the car park! Then we were directed to walk all round the houses which...you've guessed it....brought us right back where we started! 3 different routes.....same place we ended up. People we so frustrated they finished up up going through fire exits and all sorts to get to their cars! It was chaos! And this was the exhibitor's car park!!!