[Jewelry making - Article 01435] - Re: [Orchid] How did you come to be a jeweler?

[diamondeddy2]

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    I started with an interest in jewelry in 1968, when I stayed at my
    aunt & uncle's house for a week, when I was 12 yrs old. I was there
    to help my sickly aunt do her spring housecleaning, but when the
    chores were completed, I ended up at my uncle's very small watch &
    jewelry repair shop.It was less than 300 sq ft, including the
    bathroom, a single display case for the sales area, and 2 benches.
    Unc showed me how to size an old scrap gold ring, so I sat there and
    sized that baby up and down several times the rest of that day. I
    suddenly knew that I was 'in love'. At the end of the week, Unc
    packed up a box of his old wore out tools, sent 'em home with me, and
    said 'see what ya' can do with those'. I probably had to be about the
    only 12 yr old kid anywhere that asked for a Prestolite torch for his
    birthday. Mom allowed me to set up an old bench in her laundry room,
    and I began accumulating anything that had to do with jewelry. I
    bought pieces of brass and copper hardware and plumbing from the
    hardware store to practice on, cutting and soldering. While most
    kids of my age were playing around, I was 'holed up' in the
    laundryroom, cutting, filing, soldering, sanding on just about
    anything that I could put a shine on. When I turned 16, I was hired
    by a local small jeweler for about a year.. Thru high school years, I
    studied GIA diamond and colored stones courses. At 21, I left a tv
    factory job, to take a minimum wage clerks job at a mall store, for
    Goodman Jewelers of Indiana. In 2 years, I had a managers position
    within the small 9 store chain, where I stayed for nearly ten yrs.
    The money was great, especially for a 25 year old with no college,
    but I simply wasn't happy cramming, and teaching others how to cram
    jewelry down people's throats, and rinse it down with a credit
    application. I left a really nice salary, and bonus behind, and 1
    week later I was making just a tadd over minimum wage again, this
    time as a convenience store asst manager, besides taking on 2 paper
    routes to support my now family of 4. In the meantime, my wife had my
    aunt show her how to string pearls, and over the course of about 4-5
    yrs, we developed about 200 trade accounts for pearl and bead
    stringing. In August-Oct we would hold pearl stringing 'bees' in our
    mobile home living room, with 1/2 a dz cackling ladies, all getting
    piece rate, as we strung up literally several hundreds or even
    thousands of strands of cultured saltwater pearls, that were being
    imported in hanks by a large regional chain of stores. When the pearl
    craze of that era, played itself out, things cooled of considerably,
    and about then, my aunt and uncle asked if I was interested in taking
    over their small retail shop. Six months later I was up to my elbows
    in watch and jewelry repairs, with a readymade clientel, and just a
    single display case with watchbands and half a dz asstd ring and
    pendant mountings. My uncle had spent 2 weeks before he retired
    showing me very basic watch repair, like battery changes, crystal and
    movement replacements, and the rest was up to me. I quickly signed up
    for a correspondence quartz watch repair course from American
    Watchmaker's Institute. Now, 20 yrs later, in a newer, larger
    location. I'm still sitting there hammering out just about anything
    that sparkles or ticks, doing plenty of custom work, and more watch
    and jewelry repair than I even want most of the time. Most all the
    dept stores and mall jewelers in my city send dzs of watch repair
    customers to my store weekly. And, I just bought a Roland MDX-15 wax
    milling machine about 2 weeks ago, and am currently learning to
    operate it and the software. Business has been good this year, and I
    just added a newbie bench jeweler to the store, with high hopes for
    the next 20 yrs. 

Ed in Kokomo
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