Hahahahaha... this logo was on for the Vegas Fayre last year and no one asked or noticed. The Artisanal Oud Guild is an initiative I started working on, to try to bring uniform standard of practice amongst the Oud vendors. The vendor does not have to be on Ouddict to join.
At the moment it’s very early stages and while the website is up on
www.artisanaloudguild.org, we have not had the time to progress things. Eventually we will do, but progress will be slow due to the other commitments the vendors have... unless of course someone wants to run with the project and help bring about standards and run projects - the blind test that
@powdernose conducted would be an activity that fits perfectly with the aims of the Guild.
One of the remits is a standardisation of terms used. What is the definition of “organic” or “wild” Oud for instance? Or what makes an oil “sinking” grade or “incense” grade. All member vendors would have to abide by that usage in their marketing and descriptions which would help customers enormously and prevent abuse and/or misunderstandings when customers purchase an Oud. So the idea is for vendors to be open and transparent and to help the customer and this is also aligned with the Ouddict forum philosophy so
most of the vendors who are Resident Artisans here are part of the Artisanal Oud Guild. We hope that the seal becomes a marker of good practice and quality at some point.
To be honest, the pioneers of online Artisanal Oud should have done something like this a long time ago, but better late than never.
