My name is Oliver Lamb and I started making jewellery in 2020, during the Covid 19 lockdown. It all began when I was handed my Grandfather's Wedding ring that he has owned for over 60 years.
When I started my first job and started earning money in 2016, I bought myself a Sterling Silver Ring and a Sterling Silver Curb Bracelet. I was really happy with them and never took them off. It wasn't long until I realised that the ring was bent and the bracelet kept falling off due to the poor quality clasp. After I had realised what happened to them, I took them off and put them in my drawer.
I went downstairs one day and started talking to my Grandad. We were talking about all the jewellery he had bought in the past (that my mother now owns some of), and I was really interested in all of it. I was instantly attached. I asked him about his wedding ring as I knew that he had it hand made in the late 1950's. He got it out to show me and I fell in love with it. After a little while of talking he decided to gift it to me and I now keep it in the safe as I would like to use this as my Wedding Ring. You will see this at all of the wedding fairs that I do today as I like to share this story with people as they can see what a handmade wedding ring looks 60+ years later.
While I was at school, all my friends knew what they wanted to do for a career and a lot of them had university lined up for them already. I knew university was not for me and that I wanted to own my own business as it would follow the footsteps of my Grandad, Dad, and Brothers. My Grandad started a decorating business to fund his first butcher shop in the Midlands UK. As the years went on he ended up owning 12 butcher stores in total. I love listening to the stories he tells me about his businesses and it really motivates me to work as hard as he did. My Dad has always been really knowledgeable in business and in his 30+ years of working for himself he has been on many ventures. Today him and my older brother Chris own The Country Sport Shop & The BBQ Shack. This was my first job, and by far the best one I have had while working for someone because this is where I got most of my knowledge and experience. I worked there every Saturday and every day in the summer for three years and would never miss a day. I really enjoyed working with Dad and Chris. My other Brother, James, owns a very prestigious car dealership called Condor Vehicle Sales where I worked for 6 months and learned a lot about handling enquiries and advertising your products. I enjoyed this job as I spent my days working with very high end cars and most importantly with my brother.
So a lot of my family members worked for themselves and I knew I wanted to do the same thing but I didn't know what I wanted, all I knew is that I wanted to work with clients and have a public-facing business. I suddenly thought of the ring I bought that bent and looked at my Grandads Wedding Ring and compared the quality of the rings and was amazed that the 60 year old wedding ring was far better quality. I was sitting with my Dad one evening and we started to YouTube how rings were made. We came across a jeweller called Bobby White, and watched him make the most amazing piece of jewellery, I never knew you could still get handmade jewellery. I was 15 and working with my Dad and Chris at this point. I had some money saved for a rainy day, found some jewellery tools online and a place where I could get a supply of precious metals.
That was it. I knew from then that that was what I wanted to do. I spent a large proportion of my savings on tools and silver and got started as soon as they were delivered. My Dad had a space upstairs in his shop where I could practice making jewellery and I did it every day. I taught myself with trial and error and YouTube tutorials on how to make my first ring, it took me 6 months to make my first decent band ring that could actually be worn. Once I got the hang of it, I started my O.M.L Jewels Instagram page where I started showing people what I was making. After a while, I started getting more and more people asking me for prices on pieces of jewellery. I started buying packaging and started selling to people I knew. When the Covid-19 lockdowns hit, I had a lot of free time like everyone else so I decided to create the O.M.L Jewels website with my Dad and as time went on, I saw some more sales. I think it's safe to say that Mom was my biggest customer, thanks Mom!
After school, I started working in the bar industry to fund what was essentially still a hobby. I would sell the odd piece of jewellery and I worked in that industry for around about a year. I loved the bar industry because it was always such an exciting atmosphere but that wasn't what I wanted. I wanted O.M.L Jewels but I couldn't make it work with the anti-social hours. I was working so many hours every week that I had no time for myself, you have to do what you have to do to earn money. So I kept at it for a year working Christmas day, Bank Holidays and missing family events. I wasn't happy there.
This is when my brother, James, offered me a Job in 2022 with better hours, and more importantly, I had the weekends to focus on my hobby. During my weekends, I started getting more involved with the wedding industry as that is where I always wanted to head towards - it was Grandads wedding ring that started all of this. A lady called Jules called me one day and invited me to one of her wedding fairs. Jules owns a wedding company that showcases all sorts of businesses that make weddings possible. I did two fairs with Jules and realised that a lot of people wanted to come and see me privately and book an appointment. I knew that I was going nowhere as I didn't have a business location and I couldn't invite people to my home because I still lived with my Mom and Dad. After a couple of months, I had enough money to save for my first business premises which is where I am today. In October of 2022, I went to visit a studio/office to rent and went for it. Me and my girlfriend, Charlotte, spent every evening of that week decorating my studio. Mom and Dad were collecting things like my sofa, display cabinet and more as it wouldn't fit in my car and Dad's business had a van. I guess it's true, the best kind of friend is a friend with a van. After a long week it was finished and I couldn't be happier so a massive thank you to Mom, Dad, and Charlotte.
It was around this time that Mom had left her job to start a new adventure and open her business, Cut Out 4 Cleaning where she cleans some amazing, luxury houses. I couldn't have been happier for her and proud as she was scared at the time but sucked it up and did it anyway. This influenced me - I wanted to do that. I wanted to work full-time for myself. So I did. I figured it was time that I invested all my time into making luxury handmade jewellery and live my dream. On the 9th of February, I left my job working for James and went for my dream. As of Febuary 2023, my hobby became a business.
I always believed in doing what makes YOU happy, sometimes it is scary but if you graft hard enough, it will work.
What is my next step?
My next step would be to have a shop front where anyone can walk in, and build the O.M.L Jewels name as big as I can. It will take a lot of hard work but that is what I want. I enjoy meeting new people and listening to them tell me what they want in a piece of jewellery. The most satisfying part is watching them view it for the first time and seeing them fall in love with it.
A massive thank you to my Mom and Dad and Grandad for their support over the last few years, now you can watch me grow. Another massive thank you to my amazing girlfriend, Charlotte, for supporting me with the wedding fairs and my studio. Finally, a huge thank you to all of my friends for their support, you guys are a great help to O.M.L Jewels. I couldn't have done it without you all.
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