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‘With Instagram, you just have to have faith,” says Matthew Weldon. “It’s like a visual catalogue. People can get a good feel for what we do from our page and send us a message. It’s an easy way in.”
Weldon is the owner of Courtville, a shop that sells antique and vintage jewellery. At 31, he’s by far the youngest member of the Irish Antique Dealers Association (IADA). He’s also at the epicentre of a perfect storm: antique jewellery, once perceived as quirky and niche, is currently trending.
Instagram is a big part of this. So are podcasts and the ability to engage with an online community, but the appetite for antique jewellery also taps into a wider zeitgeist that craves ethically and sustainably sourced gemstones. Conflict diamonds? Nobody wants them anymore. Old stones rock.