Blog
The Story so far…
On June 10th, 2009 myfamilysilver wrote on the subject of Uncategorized.
Six weeks since launch and we can begin to see some meaningful traffic numbers. And they are very encouraging.
In the month to 9 June, 11458 people dropped in to see the site of which 9923 were unique visitors. A massive 7169 visitors lived in the USA, many (985) in California followed by New York (776).
After the USA, the UK was the second largest source of traffic, followed by Canada and Australia. This isn’t surprising as our crest sources focus on English surnames.
On average, visitors spent over three minutes on site – a healthy amount of time in this fast moving age. Obviously the range of silver on offer and the ability to search for family crests is proving compulsive! This is apparent as on average visitors explore over 8 pages of the site. (At this rate it would take almost a 1000 visits to view all myfamilysilver.com 78,000 pages!)
Over the same period, our daily visitor numbers went from about 200 a day to over 600 – and rising.
Its a good start!
A brand new online silver retailer: The story so far.
On January 16th, 2009 myfamilysilver wrote on the subject of Latest News.
Building a website of the complexity and brilliance of myfamilysilver.com is quite a challenge, one that we are tackling with both hands to provide you with the best possible experience.
Writing books (my other hobby) seems like a walk in the park compared to collating, digitising and loading the details and crest images of some 40,000 families into the Crestfinder.
Fortunately, those clever web chaps at Datadial have not only achieved the seemingly impossible with their database skills but have also created a thing of great and lasting beauty. Thousands of crests come alive at the touch of a button. I can’t wait to let you loose on it nearer the time.
Even a heraldic amateur (like me) could spend hours of fun on it. Yet still, the benefits to the silver trade will be overwhelming. The icing on this considerably large and tasty cake will be the listing of regimental badges which will allow visitors to search for silver which is engraved with the badge of their old regiment. The interest in military history is huge so we expect this to be a highly popular addition to Crestfinder.
What is Crestfinder?
It’s one of the many innovations coming to myfamilysilver.com. It’s a one of a kind, purpose built database for the speedy identification of family crests by name or blazon! We’ll be talking more about the Crestfinder soon.
In closing, I’d like to pose a question to help us design the uploading of items into the site by our dealers. How many different, legally recognised standards have been used in the production of silver over the years? Obviously Sterling and Brittania in the UK, and 800 standard on the continent. But can you think of any more?
Let’s talk Fairbairn’s.
On January 14th, 2009 myfamilysilver wrote on the subject of Fairbairn's.
The burning question you’re probably asking yourself right now is just how are we going to match you to silver engaged with your family crest?
Perseverance and persistence has led us to what we think is the perfect formula. MyFamilySilver.
We have methodically digitised “Fairbairn’s Book of Crests†an incredibly exhaustive resource which for over a hundred years has been the principal source for identifying family crests.
However, as many of you may or may not know, Fairbairns isn’t perfect. There are the odd few gaps and inaccuracies littered throughout. What to do to fill in those gaps?
We are doing just that by cross referencing Fairbairns with our partners at Burke’s Peerage. Meanwhile, the inaccuracies are being corrected by Luke Shrager, a leading authority on heraldry based in London.
Luke also has longstanding connections with the silver trade through his family’s firm Schredds of Portobello.
However, (there always seems to be a however doesn’t there?) The crafty young Mr Fairbairn has given us an even bigger problem.
He allows us to go from name to crest, but not from crest to name. So, given a piece of silver engraved with an unknown crest, we cannot identify the family who once owned it. Until now.
Having loaded Fairbairns text and images into a fantastically elegant database, a short online game of “animal, mineral or vegetable†(remember that?) will, hey presto, identify a crest from an image. All of a sudden and if by magic, all those bits of silver engraved with mysterious crests come alive (and also instantly become more valuable).
Our plan is to make everything you see on site useful and fun for you to use and remember if you have any questions then you can leave a comment or get in touch via email.
What do you think to the Fairbairn’s Book of Crests? Have you read it? Let us know!
John Culme, who for many years has been connected with Sotheby's Silver Department, is author of several books and articles, including The Directory of Gold and Silversmiths, 1838-1914, published in 1987, and co-author with Nicholas Rayner of The Jewels of the Duchess of Windsor. He is also a Liveryman of the Goldsmiths' Company, London.
Register your interest
Be the first to hear about progress at My Family Silver by filling in this form.
