Reflections

Well its interesting, As of 10am, Tuesday 10th April 2012, I will be celebrating 40 years since I first walked through the doors of E P Mallory & Son at 5 Old Bond Street in Bath to become a Junior sales assistant and take the first steps to becoming a jeweller.
This was Mallorys Antique & Second Hand Jewellery & Silver Dept and I spent almost 15 very happy years here absorbing all that Pat Mallory could pass on to me.
A lot of Water has passed under Pultney Bridge since then but the lessons I learned there have stayed with me and I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Pat, his wife and incidentally his father & grandfather who started the business in the 19th century and whose passion I now share.
I owe another huge debt of gratitude to Hankie, or more properly Mrs Gear (nee Miss Hanks) a formidable lady who very nearly caused me to turn around & walk out on that first day. She was the spitting image of my previous boss at the Midland Bank in Bristol and whose mission in life was to make junior clerks' lives Hell on Earth. Fortunately Hankie was a dream, very hard but with a soft centre, I learned more from her (and Tom her husband) about life and living it than from anyone else, ever. She was a brilliant artist and I still have 3 of her pictures in my office today. Having the theater in Bath meant that I met many famous people, Lesley Crowther was a regular visitor as was his equally famous son in law from Thin Lizzy one of my fave bands at the time, Phil Lynott. Not just British Stars either, Richard Thomas (John Boy Walton) & his wife were memorable visitors as were many others too numerous to mention.
One of my best memories of Mallorys is the 3 Glass car hood ornaments in the attic, still brand new, still with their price tickets (in Guineas) dating from the 1920s, Original Laliques, never sold and probably never would be.
Advertisement taken from Punch the London magazine of June 1929, quote:

"Shinning Scintillating, lovely Lalique Car Mascots (the crystallised thoughts of the artist master craftsman Rene Lalique) are making their way to the bonnets of the cars of connoisseurs, there to stay poised, the dernier cri of aesthetic taste. Breves Galleries are the sold concessionnaires for these mascots for England and would urge you to make your choice while there is yet time, for only a certain number of them are being made, and when these are produced the moulds will be broken, thus ensuring rarity. Made of highly metallised glass, practically unbreakable, they are illuminated so that you can at once pick out your car at night.
Mascots for radiator or dash (usual fitting) £3.3.0
Mascots (with light fitting) £4.4.0"
I remember this one from the collection but there was a wonderful horses head. I wonder if they are still in the shop? Mallorys left Old Bond Street a few years ago but are still at Bridge Street where they started and I wish them all well.
Time moved on however I was now married and my wife was pregnant, I wasnt earning much and needed money, I made the second biggest mistake of my life and left to pusue wealth instead of happiness and joined the Prudential, Yes, I was one of the "Men from the Pru" when that still meant something. I gave it a good try, I started on the Monday & by Friday, knew I had made a mistake but stuck it out for 5 years as my wife was busy spending the unbelievable salary.
Eventually however I saw the writing on the wall & got out, just in time as they did away the whole job about a year later.
I somehow found my way back to Frome in Somerset where I joined up with an ex colleage from Mallorys (who is going to be nameless for many reasons but Tommy, you know who you are)
I had been a Frome Grammar School boy and knew Mr Vincent, A local 2nd generation jeweller in the town from my early drinking days at the Vine Tree. He asked "Tommy" & I if we would take on his Jewellery shop, T H Vincent & Son in Cheap Steet, It was a "No Brainer"
What a wonderful time we had, the only other jeweller left was Chris Hart and we had a great relationship with him, He catered for the young smart set and we catered for the older more staid type clients, between us we "owned" that town.
We expanded very quickly and even took over the shop next door, adding silver & amber jewellery, trophys & Engraving to our portfolio. We even bought out our jobbing jeweller & installed him in the building. Our traditional old silver & jewellery business boomed but it wasnt to last. We had an armed robbery, unsuccessful but life changing all the same for many reasons and "Tommy" & I agreed to go our seperate ways. I know Chris Hart is still there but regrettably Vincents is no more, I hope some "Vincents" watches are still going strong however.
I moved to Cannock to concentrate on Valuation work and added several more bits of alphabet soup after my name, courtesy of the NAG. A later move to Leicester (and a divorce) was to come and lead to eventual happiness here in the Midlands with a new wife (and several dogs & cats)
Armed with this background I now just work for myself, valuing what others believe valuable and help as many as I can. I haven't done it alone however, Pat Mallory, Hankie, even Tommy have made me what I am today and I couldn't have done any of the last bit without the unflagging support of my wife Jane and it is to her that I dedicate the last 40 years, lets hope there are many more to come.