Is imitation the sincerest form of flattery?

[faegrace]

Hi, All

You tell me: when someone, a fellow PSer or not, likes your stuff so much that s/he copies it, do you feel flattered or no?

This could pertain to setting design, gems, you-name-it.

In my short time here, I've seen everything from inspiration gems and jewelry, to replication (well, no two are ever EXACTLY alike, but you get the picture.) It got me wondering, aside from the obvious vendors' right to design (JKT, for example), how do folks feel about seeing others with their settings or their gems?

I am interested in your thoughts, so please, share them!

~ faegrace

 

[chrono]

I don't have an issue with it whatsover. If one traces back any particular design back through time, they've all come from inspiration/replication from long ago. None are truly unique or one of a kind, be it inspired by Greek, Roman, Asian, Art Deco and etc. In terms of seeing a copied design or stone, it means that somebody out there thinks it's beautiful enough to want to have something similar and there's nothing wrong with that. I'm in the camp that imitation is definitely a form of flattery.

 

[Kismet]

It doesn't bother me at all. If it did I wouldn't be posting pictures of my jewelry on a public forum. Besides, the designs aren't mine. As much as I've had a hand with the design of some of my pieces the actual ownership of the design remains with the jewelry and not me.

 

[soberguy]

There are a few rings I have that were made by a jeweler in Durango, CO that I haven't shown for that veryreason lol!

 

[chrono]

There are a few rings I have that were made by a jeweler in Durango, CO that I haven't shown for that veryreason lol!

The reason being? I'd like to understand the reason why you feel that the design is very personal and should not be an inspiration piece. Who's to say that somebody on the street saw it and liked it enough to copy it?

 

[soberguy]

I can't say exactly. I got rid of my legacy inspired setting too. I like distinctive jewelry I suppose.

 

[bright ice]

I would have no problem whatsoever.

 

[colorluvr]

I think it is a form of flattery and would have no problem with it. Some of my stuff is "different" and definitely not the norm, but if anyone wanted to copy it, I'd be pleased.

 

[faegrace]

Soberguy brings up an interesting point: as fabulous a forum as PS/CS is, there are likely settings or gems folks don't share because they'd prefer not to be copied.

Chrono's point about not being able to control imitation completely is also thought-provoking. My initial response is that it is less likely someone on "the street" would remember enough detail to replicate exactly. Although, who knows with the keen eyes of a true jewelry lover....

If posted here, we're looking at a very specific population viewing photos and I daresay a much greater likelihood of imitation. And then, of course, there's the whole issue of folks becoming aware a particular lapidary may have more of a particular rough to cut. (Who, if they hadn't seen a gem they LOVE on PS, wouldn't have known to ask for it in the first place). And then there's the issue of certain jewelers who can recreate a specific design (though many won't) but there is someone out there who likely can and will.....

No, there is no original design, or thought for that matter, in 2011. We're all standing on someone's shoulders.

I don't know if it matters why someone wouldn't want to share a gem or piece of jewelry. I think those who support the idea that all is to be shared would not be convinced, no matter the reason, someone else may choose not to share. I also think that each person obviously has the right to share or not. Without that sharing, many of our favorite vendors would not have near the business, that is for certain! Nor would we have the collections we do.

I would say that if you feel strongly about a particular gem or piece of jewelry, it holds a great deal of significance to you and you would feel taken aback, for any reason, to see a version of it posted here, it is better not to post it.

 

[kt]

But then I think you would have to tell the vendor not to post it on their website, either, right? i'm just thinking with the ring i'm looking to get from Daniel M - someone worked with him to design it (i'm assuming?) and was ok for him to post it on his "sold" section, which then leads to people like me asking for a similar piece (maybe with a different stone or modifications, but someone else may want the EXACT same thing?). So you would just want to be vigilant about that, too.

 

[T L]

I don't get offended at all. It's a great compliment when people want to copy what you have IMHO. It's not like we're both wearing the same gown to the Oscars, so I don't mind.

 

[ForteKitty]

TL- just a heads-up. i'm copying your trilion mahenge. Just contacted lanbo yesterday.

 

[faegrace]

kt ~

There are definitely just so many variables a person could control, if they even had a mind to. I am suddenly reminded of an elderly woman our family knew, who went to her grave with her family's prized cheesecake recipe. Geez, I think there was even a Desperate Housewives episode with a recipe box kept under lock and key.... I digress.... Same premise though.


TL ~

You're funny! It makes me wonder if dislike of imitation is all ego then, as would be the Oscar dress, or if sincere sentimentality/symbolic meaning is something altogether different? Hmmm....



FK ~

You're good to give TL a heads-up, if we're counting commercial settings.

 

[mayerling]

I would find it extremely flattering is somebody copied my jewels. Having said that, I would be affronted if they went for a bigger stone

 

[maebelle]

But then I think you would have to tell the vendor not to post it on their website, either, right? i'm just thinking with the ring i'm looking to get from Daniel M - someone worked with him to design it (i'm assuming?) and was ok for him to post it on his "sold" section, which then leads to people like me asking for a similar piece (maybe with a different stone or modifications, but someone else may want the EXACT same thing?). So you would just want to be vigilant about that, too.

You can actually see that some of the Daniel M Pieces (and other Etsy sales) are "Reserved" with no picture of the final project, I'm assuming for just this reason!

I am one the the culprits for copying. My Sphene ring from Daniel M is an exact copy one of Frekechild's Spinels, which in turn was inspired by a Sholdt setting.

 

[T L]

I think it's a normal habit to copy someone's gems and/or design on this board. For example, there is always that "stone of the week or the month" that everyone has to have. It was Mahenge spinels for a while, than chrysoberyls, various colors of other spinels, etc. . .

We all want certain kinds of cutting too, etc. . .

This board inspires us to copy and flatter others by doing so I think.

 

[LD]

Ok I have a foot in two camps.

I have NO problem if I've bought a stone and then, say, a Lanbo setting, and somebody gets inspiration or copies that.

HOWEVER

I once designed a very unique setting for an old mine cut diamond I had. I got Sally (from HeartofWater) to make it for me and it was really unique (to me) in that I had basically designed it from scratch. I posted a photo of it on this forum and Sally contacted me saying that 3 or 4 PSers had contacted her and asked her to exactly replicate it for them. She (very kindly) asked if I minded. Well, actually I did because that design was my own inspiration and I hadn't even had it for 5 minutes and it was being copied. However, what I did agree with Sally was that I didn't want to be a killjoy and therefore if somebody loved it I had no problem for her to make a similar ring but I asked that she made some alterations so that it wasn't an exact replica.

Interestingly, I have a very unique inherited ring that is very special for me. It's made in silver with a rubbish gemstone but I intend to have it replicated into platinum with a lovely gemstone. I will never post that on PS because I don't want to share that one. Sorry that sounds mean but that's how I feel!

 

[PaulaW]

I certainly hope so! I don't have anything enviable enough to replicate, but I definitely have lots of photos of people's pieces here in a "lust after" folder. I think when you have a collective group of such amazing gems and jewelry, it's bound to happen, but for me, I would ask before copying. Gypsy has a pendant that I would love to have made someday... AJ and LD have stuff I love too.... I could go on and on!

 

[NKOTB]

The only way I would know if someone was copying me (though the odds are higher of the reverse, with me being the New Kid on the Block) is if they posted about it here. I assume we are fairly spread out across various countries, so I'll never run into someone actually wearing the same ring/stone. If I did, I would laugh heartily and be happy to have run into a kindred spirit.

 

[kt]

^^^Maebelle, ITA!

 

[packrat]

I wouldn't mind at all. I thought I was so cool coming up w/the design for my semi bezel chrysoberyl ring all on my own, and while browsing Etsy a couple weeks ago found one SO similar from a different seller it floored me. One element I changed my mind at the last minute about having was there, and the head was a regular semi bezel head instead of flared-so incredibly similar to the collage I'd made when I came up w/the idea. It didn't bother me, tho I did of course notice that mine is incredibly well made and the other didn't look quite as good..but I did think well, so much for my incredibly original idea!!

 

[Aoife]

It's an interesting question. For the most part, as far as jewelry goes, I don't care much if someone sees something I've posted and either replicates it or uses it for an inspiration piece. That said, I don't post everything I've bought or commissioned on PS, some pieces because I'm pretty sure that very few people would like that specific piece of jewelry, and a few polite comments along the lines of "Well, isn't that special," are too dreary to contemplate. I'm actually posting new pieces less and less.

Recipes, though, that's a whole different thing! I used to do a lot of gourmet-type cooking, and developed my own recipes. I would share a recipe with a friend if asked, and not think too much about it until the memorable time my DH and I attended a dinner party where the hostess served for the main course a dish I had developed, and then allowed the other guests to believe that she had created the recipe herself. That was the last time I shared a recipe that I had developed myself, so I do understand why LovingDiamonds would feel the way she does about the HoW setting she designed.

ETA: I do think it's important to credit the PS/CS'er who posted the original piece, if you know who that is, it just seems like a simple courtesy. Lately there have been a series of gorgeous cushions and rounds set with French cut diamond side stones by Victor Canera, and almost all of the people who posted those rings credited Wintotty's Leon as the original inspiration. It was a nice thing to do.

 

[faegrace]

Aoife ~

Just FYI, I love your taste in jewelry!

Thank you for sharing about the recipe robbery. Truly, taking credit like that is rather disgusting. Simple manners dictate giving credit to the original, and slightly more sophisticated manners dictate asking how the original poster, cook, etc., feels about replication. Some will argue that posting on PS is akin to publishing a recipe in a cook book though.

~ faegrace

 

[Kismet]

Aoife ~

Just FYI, I love your taste in jewelry!

Thank you for sharing about the recipe robbery. Truly, taking credit like that is rather disgusting. Simple manners dictate giving credit to the original, and slightly more sophisticated manners dictate asking how the original poster, cook, etc., feels about replication. Some will argue that posting on PS is akin to publishing a recipe in a cook book though.

~ faegrace

That is exactly what you are doing, except you don't get royalties for it. It may seem like we're this cosy little private community where we're all familiar with one another but that's really not the case. This is a public message board where anyone can just wander by and take copies of pictures or posts just like anyone can go into a bookstore and buy a book (or even just read the book and write down the recipe.)

I'd give credit to the original poster but I wouldn't ask permission because that's just opening a can of worms. What would you do if they said no? Not make a ring you really like because some virtual stranger doesn't want you to or just make it anyway and have the OP wonder why you bothered asking in the first place?

 

[faegrace]

Kismet ~

Thank you for the reminder that we're not a "cozy little community." All someone has to do is post a gem they're considering, get positive feedback (particularly from TL) and whoosh before the OPer can purchase it, someone else invariably sees the post and beats them to the punch. PS/CS is not an exception to the Law of the Land, so to speak. You'll have to excuse me while I go throw up about the state of human affairs now.

~ faegrace

 

[MissStepcut]

I love it when my friends dig my stuff and totally welcome imitation: I would love to start a Daniel M trend in my circle, or whatever else I bought recently!

That said, threads asking for "replicas" of Tiffany, Cartier or Harry Winston settings burns my britches. Why would you want an engagement ring that violates copyright law? But that's different than someone buying jewelry identical to mine.

 

[Laila619]

I'd be very flattered if someone wanted to copy my jewelry. It really wouldn't bother me at all, unless their piece came out looking even better than mine. Then I'd be jealous.

 

[Pandora II]

If some random person somewhere copied then I would probably never know about it and so I wouldn't have cause to be bothered. If someone on PS copied a design exactly and then posted it then I would be very annoyed.

Perhaps it's because I spent years working as a designer. For all people say 'oh, there's nothing truly original, it's all been done somewhere before', companies spend a fortune on copyrights and suing for breach of copyright every year. Try copying the latest Tiffany and selling it and the lawyers will be on the phone PDQ.

I used to be furious when I would see cheap copies of a collection I had spent months working on. Or when I was working as a textile designer I hated showing designs to a company, them not buying anything and then a few months later seeing an almost identical design appear from that very company. I also know it happens because I was asked to copy things by companies I worked for.

Taking inspiration from another's piece is entirely different from copying every detail of a setting.

 

[LD]

If some random person somewhere copied then I would probably never know about it and so I wouldn't have cause to be bothered. If someone on PS copied a design exactly and then posted it then I would be very annoyed.

Perhaps it's because I spent years working as a designer. For all people say 'oh, there's nothing truly original, it's all been done somewhere before', companies spend a fortune on copyrights and suing for breach of copyright every year. Try copying the latest Tiffany and selling it and the lawyers will be on the phone PDQ.

I used to be furious when I would see cheap copies of a collection I had spent months working on. Or when I was working as a textile designer I hated showing designs to a company, them not buying anything and then a few months later seeing an almost identical design appear from that very company. I also know it happens because I was asked to copy things by companies I worked for.

Taking inspiration from another's piece is entirely different from copying every detail of a setting.

That hits it on the head for me.

Just an aside (and not jewellery related), many years ago when they first came out I really wanted a BMW X5. I saved up and bought a new one in slate grey, grey leather interior with silver trim, certain wheels etc AND THEN our neighbour 2 doors down, admired mine and went out and bought the exact same car in the same colour with the same trim. Perhaps it's petty but I was furious as they had already copied my dinner service and other household items! There comes a point when imitation becomes scarey!

 

[ZestfullyBling]

Taking inspiration from another's piece is entirely different from copying every detail of a setting.

I do agree with this statement. Being inspired by a piece and duplicating a piece are totally different. But If you post this uniquely designed personal beautiful piece on PS than it will probably be unique and beautiful to those who view it. So there is always the chance that you may see a duplication or similar design to your piece, if that PSer post it. If the PSer does post it, its only fair to give "kudos" to the person's design that was copied.

If I had any jewelry that anyone likes so much that they want to duplicate it. I'd be flattered.