Ryan Ouellette
Precision Body Arts
Mark Siekierski on titanium: ‘Gold is not an upgrade from titanium. Titanium cannot be upgraded; it is its own upgrade. That last part makes no sense, but titanium cares not what the Homo sapiens brain can or cannot comprehend. Titanium is named after the Elder Gods of Greece, the Titans. TITANIUM HAS A HIGH STRENGTH TO WEIGHT RATIO. You can make a jet fighter with titanium; a jet fighter made of gold would be soft, heavy, and wouldn’t fly.’
Writing something like this is never easy. How can you really express your memories and feelings for someone with a few lines of text?
Mark Siekierski is someone we have all been impacted by in this industry. Not all of us talked to him in person, or even on the phone, but he left his fingerprint on our industry every day through his hard work and dedication.
The Siekierski family has been making body jewelry for this industry since the Gauntlet days; today most people would know their product by the name NeoMetal. I can’t remember exactly when I started ordering jewelry from NeoMetal, but my guess would be the early 2000s. That was a time when a substantial order for me was $200, rather than $2,000. I would call the NeoMetal line with so many questions that a very nice woman named Sue would hand the phone off to her much more patient son, Mark. After a few months of “NeoMetal, this is Mark” I became accustomed to hearing his voice when I called.
Over the years of the occasional chat after an order or stopping by his booth during the Expo I’d say we became friends. I’m very comfortable with nerd culture, and Mark certainly would fall into that classification. He would give me that wry smirk and force me to give him a split finger Spock-esque high five. At a conference full of 1,000 people being “cool”, it was refreshing to have someone more interested in teaching me the Dothraki language (yeah, from Game of Thrones) than in hitting the bar.
He always had such a calm demeanor. It was like he was researching us so he could write a book someday. He was quiet and composed, but was always quick to crack a sarcastic joke if the right person came within ear shot. He liked to tease piercers by giving them a heads up about a new color or line being released soon. Mark had a gift for giving just enough information to get them interested; just a taste, but never enough. It was easy to get frustrated at how well he could keep a secret until the next Conference, when you would finally get a peek at what NeoMetal was working on.
He really cared about our industry. One thing that always stuck out in my memory was how he seemed to have a photographic memory for any shop anywhere in the world using their jewelry. Someone would come up to the NeoMetal table and say “Hi, I’m from X shop” and he would immediately know the city and start calling them by name. He never talked down to anyone or shrugged anyone off. If they bought one piece or one thousand he was appreciative that someone out there in the world cared enough about what his family was making and wanted to offer it to their clients. At a conference where companies have huge flashy booths fifty feet long, it was really endearing to see Mark and his brother-in-law, John, standing behind one small table, enthusiastically showing off every piece of threadless jewelry they make.
When NeoMetal started vending at the BMXnet Conference, it was Mark who went to Germany to showcase their line. It was great seeing him interact with piercers in that kind of environment. People who only got to see threadless jewelry online had the opportunity to meet someone from the company and have every facet of their line explained to them. Seeing piercers carrying away their first NeoMetal starter pack always put a big smile on Mark’s face. Not because of potential income, as I’m sure most regular customers know NeoMetal has grown so fast they sometimes struggle to keep up with demand. Mark was happy because he took pride in the respect his family’s company has earned worldwide.
At the end of the day he would want to sneak out to a quiet dinner with a few friends, rather than party with the throngs. I was fortunate enough to share a few meals with him and it never felt like I was being wined and dined by someone trying to make a sale. It was just dinner with a friend. No industry talk, just Star Trek or video games or whatever came up. I feel like I’m rambling. Like I said, it is hard to make a salient point when you’re emotional.
Over the coming weeks and months be patient with NeoMetal. I know we all stress out over wait times; we stress out when we don’t have the post size we need. At the end of the day just remember what is really important to you, and know what it really means to not have something, or someone, around when it really matters. Every time you bend that pin for tension, every time you snap an end piece into place, remember Mark. Because he remembered every one of us like we were his family too.