While we’re waiting for world peace to occur, I have a few requests that hit closer to home. Here are my three jewelry-specific wishes for 2015.

That more folks would give back and give a hand up. Manufacturers can hire up-and-coming designers to create lines (Yael Designs has done this in the past); give new talent some space at a show, like Stephen Webster does with his Rock Vault crew; or retailers can buy into at least one new line this year to help a newbie’s business. Or, they promote more lines (or create one) in which portions of sales benefit charity. For my part, I’ll start casting some of my spotlight here at JCK onto other industry personalities via Q&A’s and dedicate a portion of my monthly salary to a rotating roster of charities.

That borrowed ideas—and content—would go away forever. The saying goes that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but it sure doesn’t feel that way when others take liberties with your designs or ideas. Certainly, appropriating work from another can be a subconscious activity, but with a little effort, we can all try to be more aware of potentially connatural attributions. On a personal note, I would like some of the international trade publications to stop copying and pasting JCK works (click here to see an original post and here for the Russian word-for-word lift) as their own or without permission to reprint (the original is here) and the proper credit and PDFing proprietary articles for download. (One industry association offers its members an entire downloadable menu of articles from JCK, Nationaljeweler.com, and other trade outlets.) Firms can link to the JCK website for reference but can never PDF material for download because it is the property of JCK.

That memo would be used only for big-ticket items. Who can afford to finance someone else’s business? Not many, yet it happens a lot in this industry. I’m continually amazed at how often designers are asked for memo arrangements, and not just for special, pricey pieces. How can we make these lopsided deals go away? Please comment below.

What do you wish for in 2015? Please weigh in via the comment section to help kick off the New Year with healthy, constructive conversations! Happy New Year!

The Style 360 blog is your editorial source for the newest jewelry, trends, market analysis, trade show insights, designer profiles, and more.

JCK