This is a crisis for folk art: whereas it was once produced in small communities for the use of their own people, folk artists now produce hand-made luxury goods for high-end trade.
The town has responded to the new high-end trade by restoring a handful of hotels including the Hieracon, a stucco palazzo once belonging to the Danish consul which now offers a few high-ceilinged rooms overlooking the fig and palm trees that sweep down the quayside between the busy ferries and the pastel seafront houses.
When his high-end trade disappeared Mr. Hadaya began inscribing inexpensive silver rings with a single saying in Hebrew that, depending on the situation, can instantly make a person happy or sad: "This too shall pass," it reads, rescuing Mr. Hadaya and his shop, at least for the time being.
GENEVA — In the high-end watch trade, few designs captured the brashness of the economic boom years better than the tourbillon.
Soon after, it caught the eye of Wayne Pratt, a titan in the high-end antique trade, where fortunes can be made or broken on a chest of drawers.
The first, against Mr. Biddulph, came to trial in the High Court of Britain in 2001, exposing the anatomy of the high-end violin trade.
The opening statements were the dramatic high points of the first day in which the two sides faced off in a criminal courtroom in the course of a scandal that has severely shaken the $4-billion 4-billionauction trade.
The twice-aborted sale upended what is normally the high season for international jewelry auctions in New York, but gave outsiders a rare glimpse into the machinations of the high-end jewelry trade.
"It is possible that Wal-Mart's caught in this transition period where the high-end customer traded down less and their core low-income customer is not yet feeling the economic recovery".
But for the first nine months of 2001, the high-end furniture trade was sluggish, and after Sept. 11, the market for $1,500 outdoor chaises and $2,000 wall-mounted storage grids all but evaporated.
