Winter Jewels 2025
Introducing the event
Winter Jewels is our annual Christmas exhibition at the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, Jermyns Lane, Ampfield, Romsey, SO51 0QA.
It's a selling exhibition and the longest exhibition in Hillier's annual calendar. It is always a success for us - our sales usually approach £30,000 over the duration of the exhibition.
This year the exhibition will run from ….
Set up is on
Takedown is on
Info about exhibition options
timelines and deadlines
Other requirements
photos
promo activity
ok to have stuff not for sale
This year curated cabinets
Costs
Exhibition fee
The fee for exhibiting with a full cabinet for the exhibition is held at £100.00 per exhibitor/cabinet again this year.
It's unlikely that we'd need to but we reserve the right to restrict the number of exhibitors if necessary, so your booking will be confirmed on a strict first paid, first served basis.
To take part, complete the application form and pay the exhibition fee:
by BACs to the ACJ Wessex bank account – Lloyds Bank, 30-93-97 a/c 02155147, using your surname and WJ2024 as the reference.
Or by cheque payable to ‘ACJ Wessex’ and sent to our treasurer, Helena Symes, 60, Duncan Road, Southsea, Hants. PO5 2QU.
Exhibition fee refunds
In the unlikely event that the exhibition cannot go ahead then the exhibition fee of £100 will be returned less any direct expenses incurred e.g. print and design costs.
In the event that an exhibitor is compelled to pull out before the stewarding rota is published, 50% of the fee will be retained towards costs already incurred. Any cancellations after publication of the stewarding rota means that no refund will be made.
Commission
Hilliers charge 30% commission on all sales. Hilliers provide a credit card terminal for us to use. At the end of each day we return the machine for them to process through their till.
At the end of the exhibition, once all exhibitors have approved their sales figures, Hilliers will settle our invoice for sales less commission. This can take a couple of weeks after the end of the exhibition. Exhibitors will then be invited to invoice ACJW for their sales.
Other costs
Biog Boards
All members’ cabinets must include a standard biographical board. For new exhibitors ACJW will provide this free of charge. Previous exhibitors can reuse their boards or request replacements which will be charged at cost (approx £10)
Packaging
We have a selection of ACJ Wessex logo jewellery boxes for everyone’s use at Hilliers as well as carrier bags.
These logo boxes will be charged to exhibitors at a cost of £1.20 per box used. (the larger boxes cost us £1.51 each and the medium £1.19, so please always use the smallest appropriate possible when packaging up sales items.)
For exceptionally large items (e.g. necklaces) there some also unbranded larger boxes which are also charged at the same price of £1.20.
As several of our members already have their own high quality branded packaging, on the days when you are stewarding you may, if you prefer, bring and use your own branded packaging for the day.
PAT Testing
All electrical items must be PAT tested. We can arrange for your cabinet to be tested free of charge during the exhibition. Any other items you would like to take the opportunity to have tested can be done at cost at the same time - approx £2 per item.
Public Liability Insurance
All members must provide their own Public and Product Liability insurance. Copies of certificates will be requested by ACJW as they are a requirement of the exhibition venue. You will need to show cover up to £5 Million for the duration of the exhibition.
Cover is available through a number of suppliers such as axisweb.org, Guild of Jewellery Designers, and a-n.co.uk
Stewarding responsibilities
For most exhibitions we require a commitment to a certain number of days of stewarding duty from each member. The number will depend on the duration of the exhibition and number of exhibitors.
We usually have two stewards on duty each weekday and three on weekends and days we anticipate to be particularly busy.
As a rough guide, if we have 24 exhibitors this year, each exhibitor would need to cover 3-4 days
As Winter Jewels is a group show, as well as being the salesperson for their own work and making any adjustments they deem necessary to their own display and stock that day, stewards are expected to do likewise as necessary for the other members whose work is on display.
The stewards are responsible for:
engaging and interacting with visitors and customers
encouraging visitors to take part in our prize draw and sign up to our mailing list
accurately recording and processing sales
replenishing other member's cabinets from their additional stock when appropriate
updating stock sheets
sharing sales info to the exhibition WhatsApp group at the end of the day
A copy of the stewarding rota is kept behind our sales table at Hilliers
Product and display rules
Jewellery and artefacts, eg spoons, bowls, boxes, etc must be the work of the exhibiting member.
To maintain the quality of the exhibition, which has become known for the high level of design and technical skill of our members, we expect products to be priced at commercial rates. We have a minimum price of £35 for any item of jewellery in this exhibition. Items priced below this will not be allowed in the exhibition.
The legal hallmarking laws MUST be obeyed (copies of the Hallmarking Act are displayed around the exhibition – also a legal requirement). Any silver item weighing over 7.78 grams, any gold or palladium item weighing over 1g, and platinum item weighing over 0.5g must be hallmarked when offered for sale.
Cabinet
We pride ourselves on the appearance of our exhibitions.
Members will have their own display styles and furniture. However for ACJW exhibitions we seek to have a consistent look and feel across all cabinets to achieve a coherent display of all works that highlights the quality of the whole group.
Key to this has been the use of standard cabinets. Each member must provide their own lockable IKEA Detolf or Skanor cabinet with locks, cool white lights, and the back panel covered in white frosted ‘Purlfrost’ or similar. If you do not have your own Skanor or Detolf cabinet, contact the group through our WhatsApp channel to see if another member has one available.
Cabinets must have a current PAT test certificate/label. This can be arranged for you free of charge during the Winter Jewels exhibition.
The very bottom shelf of a Detolf cabinet is a great place to display items that help tell the story of your work. Previous exhibitors have included their sketchbooks, examples of their raw materials, tools, and explanations of techniques employed in their practice.
Spare stock for replenishment of sales can be stored underneath this bottom shelf.
Display furniture
Display furniture must be transparent/clear or frosted. We’d also suggest discretely labelling these with your name to minimise risk of loss.
Exhibitors should aim for a clean, non crowded look in their overall display and, depending on size of items, it is recommended that no more than 16-24 pieces are on each shelf (based on detolf shelf size).
ACJW have small perspex price label blocks that are available for purchase. These will be available at the stewarding desk on set up day if exhibitors want them priced at 40p each.
Labelling
All items must have a label attached displaying the item code (your initials and a number) and price. Stock numbers and pricing must match the information in your stock sheets. Discrepancies can, unfortunately, lead to items being sold at the wrong price.
Materials should always be identified and clearly labelled, especially if the public may not recognize it. If there could be any confusion, or misunderstanding, of the materials used make sure a label makes it abundantly clear, e.g.
Gold plated silver should be marked as such as it could be thought to be solid gold
Aluminium could be assumed to be silver so must be clearly marked
Gemstones should be labelled with any helpful information such as whether manmade/treated and any noteworthy inclusions/flaws
Any items not complying with this rule will be removed from display.
It is helpful if you can include ring sizes on any ring labels.
Pricing
Pricing is acknowledged to be a fraught area for all members.
At Winter Jewels, we set a minimum price of £35 for any item of jewellery in the exhibition. Items priced below this will not be allowed in the exhibition.
Regardless of members' individual financial drivers, all should be seeking to achieve prices commensurate to the professional standard of the group and provide a proper return for our work. We are not seeking to run low price craft fairs and members should not appear to be undercutting one another on price.
Pricing is probably slightly more of an art than a science and the committee encourage members to be confident in their pricing. Experience suggests customers’ perception of value and willingness to purchase is often increased with price. At Winter Jewels we regularly sell pieces from £35 to £850.
There are a number of formulae that can be used if you want to calculate prices for your pieces. The committee has provided specific guidance in the past to remind members to include in costing of work not only time and materials but also costs of exhibiting (including for example mileage and costs of days stewarding as well as the more obvious entry fee).
There are many useful resources online such as this article on the Design Trust website.
There are many useful resources online such as this article on the Design Trust website or video tutorials like this one from the Jewellers Academy:
Stock sheets
Stock sheets for all exhibitors are held behind our stewarding desk. Items are checked off and marked on this as they are sold. The stocklist will be your master list of sales at the end of the exhibition.
We provide an Excel spreadsheet template for you to fill in. Once completed your spreadsheet should include each of the items you'll have for sale on a separate row with key details and price. It will also show you the price after commission.
There are short guidance notes on the first worksheet of the spreadsheet to help you fill it in.
Open the spreadsheet
On the File menu, Save a copy locally onto your computer and rename it replacing “MASTER” in the title with your name or initials
When opening the spreadsheet you may need to hit the “Enable Editing” button to allow you to make changes
On the Stocksheet 1 worksheet, enter your Name, Initials, email and phone number. These details will automatically transfer to the other 9 sheet in the workbook.
For each item in your collection
In ‘Exhibition number’ enter your initials and exhibition number starting 01, e.g. NM01, NM02, etc
(Optional) in column ‘Makers Reference’ enter your own reference if you wish to identify your piece in your own records
In ‘Sketch/photo’, from the Insert tab, use Insert picture and insert and image to fit in the cell. If you prefer you can hand sketch it instead on your printed copy
In ‘Details of Materials & Processes’, add as much detail as possible about the item to help stewards customers with any queries about the item
(Optional) in “Alternative Versions” enter information about possible variations etc.
Once the Retail price is entered a figure will automatically pop up in the last column to show you how much you will receive after commission and ACJW jewellery box.
If the item is too large for any of the ACJW boxes put a Y in the column “Enter Y if own box” and you MUST provide a suitable box in your drawer. The figure in the last column will then be adjusted accordingly (so that you are not charged for an ACJW box).
The ‘This is what you will receive’ column is not printed so is not visible to any customers. It's there as a reference for you to reconcile your sales figures.
You can either include all your items on Stocksheet 1 which should automatically repeat the column headers on each printed page or, after entering on pageful of items you can move onto sheet 2, sheet 3, etc.
Once completed, please print this out and bring it with you on the exhibition set up day. It will be placed in the exhibitor stocklist folder and used by our stewards to record your sales and answer and customer queries.
FAQs
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It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
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It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
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It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
-
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.