I use the anvil the same way a blacksmith does, but I hammer precious metals into earrings, bracelets and neckpieces.
My bench was featured in a book written about jewelers’ benches. It has a classic half-round cutout that is an exact recreation of the one in a bench I inherited from Fred Clayter. Fred worked with the Tiffany’s in the early 1900’s and was a professor at Carnegie Tech. This bench has more storage than Fred’s. Many of the hand tools in the drawers and on the tool wall were his, but I have added hundreds of my own.
I can draw in 3D and show customers the design in realistic images of metal and gemstones before it is made.
While I still use many tools that would be familiar to a jeweler from the 1800’s, I have also embraced technology. Computer Aided Design or CAD allows me to design more precisely than ever before. I can draw in 3-D and show customers the design in realistic images of metal and gemstones before it is made.
The white box on the right of the desk is a TIG welder. It uses an intense electric pulse to weld precious metals and allows me to work next to heat sensitive gemstones without risk.
