Today I went to get a couple of gemstones valued for insurances purposes. Don't get excited, the cost of the valuation was almost more than the stones, more's the pity.
The real value of the exercise was meeting the valuers, Stephen and Ian from the Australian Gem Testing Laboratory, and watching the process of the valuation. It was a fascinating glimpse of a world that I know nothing about.
Stephen and Ian chatted to me while they went about the business of determining that my gemstones weren't up to much. I suspect they it knew at a glance, but they approached the task with the same seriousness as if I'd decanted several carats worth of diamonds onto the counter. Expertise, as I noted yesterday, is always a beautiful thing. These chaps are good at people, not just at jewellery. It wasn't phoney 'salesmanship', rather it was a genuine human exchange.
A window onto another world - and other people's lives are always another world - is a precious thing. Too often our own rut seems like the only rut there is. A glimpse outside it makes our possibilities expand. Their normal is not my normal. I'm sure that after a while, to anyone in the trade, valuing jewellery is about as exciting as keeping the racks tidy at a clothing retailer, but to an outsider it's definitely exotic.
Perhaps the most exotic thing about it is realising that it no longer seems exotic to them. Neither wore jewellery of any sort, not even a watch.
This is post 36 of 43 posts.
2 comments:
A distant relative lived in Melbourne (Mary McNaughton b. 1831 Edinburgh m 1861 to William Valentine Robinson and they moved in 1861 to VIC. Had 10 children there. An old letter of hers (Dec. 1897) lists her address as "Callatina, Glenferrie Rd., Hawthorn, Melbourne". Is that near you? He had been hired to be a reporter for The Argus and later rose to become Clerk of the Legislative Assembly, Victoria. Curious if their house might still be standing. Thanks, A Fan from The States.
Hi Molly,
Callantina Avenue is very near my music studio. I don't know if the house itself is still there. I suspect it became part of the boy's school, Scotch College. (I might be wrong about that.)
The Argus is no more, although the building in Melbourne city centre is still there. Following Federation in 1901, Melbourne was the legislative centre, until Canberra was built.
There is also a Robinson's Road in Hawthorn - it makes me wonder if that is a connection or just a coincidence?
Cheers,
opinionatedchildlesswoman
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