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Jewelry plays an ancient and well-documented role in broadcasting social status, but charm bracelets, known to almost all American women and girls since at least the 1940s, are also distantly related to traditional charms or amulets, carried for millennia to protect the wearers avert danger, or ensure good fortune. Mesopotamian amulet seals date from the 5th millennium.... (2004) Complete Story
Cowboys were especially particular about their gear and took pride in buying the best equipment they could afford Blacksmiths generally started making bits and spurs as a favor to local cowboys. Those who were the most skillful were usually swamped with orders, and what started as a sideline became their mainstay. Spur and bit makers were individualistic craftsmen, developing their own stylistic trademarks. The makers were locally or regionally famous during their active careers, but today many are only remembered by collectors, who admire their skill but know little of their lives.... (2004) Complete Story
Like many other metalsmiths, I am a time traveler. I am writing this on a computer, skipping over to the Internet to search the web as I go, while across the studio I have an anvil and hammers that havent changed in the last 500 years. In the course of the day, I toggle between poles that are centuries apart, regularly using ancient tools with twenty-first-century techniques. The situation is familiar to jewelers around the world as we embrace the rich legacy of our past while simultaneously extending our reach to encompass the latest innovation. In a universe of such extreme contrasts, the very concept of "new" comes into question.... (2006) Complete Story
Daniel Pedersons planishing hammer came into the possession of William Frederick in a way that still provokes emotion. Pederson, a master Norwegian silversmith renowned for his shy but courtly manners and deft hammer marks, was co-owner of the venerable Kalo Shop, one of Chicagos earliest and most prominent Arts and Crafts metalworking enterprises. Pederson died in 1970, the same year the hugely successful shop closed, after selling its handmade silver objects to three generations of Chicagoans. At its height, the shop employed 25 silversmiths and opened an outlet in New York City.... (2005) Complete Story
