Speakers
METALS
METHODS | MACHINES | MASTERY
NEW THIS YEAR: SUNDAY BREAKOUT SESSIONS!
Join us this fall for the Portland Jewelry Symposium as we take a deep dive with this year’s theme on Metals. We will cover the many aspects of jewelry metals both on and off the bench, with a host of national experts sharing wisdom on gold, platinum, titanium and more. New this year are special Sunday Breakout Sessions as well as an extended Q & A discussion format.
KEYNOTE ADDRESS:
THE SCIENCE AND ART OF DESIGNING AND CREATING IN DIVERSE METALS
Renowned jewelry designer Zoltan David is the recipient of more than thirty national and international design awards as well as a patent on metal ornamentation. He has prominent works on permanent display at both the Smithsonian Natural History Museum in Washington DC and the Gemological Institute of America in Carlsbad, California.
Zoltan David’s career began with exceptional training as an apprentice and journeyman under the tutelage of Swiss and German master goldsmiths over a period of eight years. A native of Budapest, Hungary, he completed his education in Europe and then moved to Vancouver, British Columbia to establish Zoltan David Precious Metal Art. Following his early years Canada, he moved the business to Laguna Beach, California, integrating with its vibrant artistic scene and spending more than a decade there growing his business. Today, his gallery and retail store is located in the Hill Country of Austin, Texas.
Keynote Address
An exquisite piece of jewelry always has its origins in the execution of a very good idea. The important role of design, the power of the art, and the marriage of these two creative methods is key to achieving optimal beauty and function in the final piece. One strong consideration in this process is the choice of metals to be used. Zoltan David, a master in combining metals based on their merit in both design aesthetic and functionality, will share practical applications and personal inspirations from his creative process in executing numerous and award-winning bespoke pieces.
BASIC METALLURGY FOR JEWELERS
Stewart Grice is Vice President of Mill Products at Hoover & Strong Inc. He has an HD in Physics, BSc in Materials Science and MPhil in Metallurgy. Stewart is a Chartered Engineer as well as a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining. He has over 26 years of experience in the jewelry industry with emphasis on alloy, product and process development, technical support and process troubleshooting.
Session
This breakout session will cover Metallurgy 101 for Jewelers. Physical and mechanical properties, crystal structures and phase changes will be explained, along with examples of typical metallurgical problems that occur in jewelry alloys. Attendees are strongly encouraged to participate with questions relating to their own metallurgical problems and experience.
AL GILBERTSON GG CG
PROJECT MANAGER, CUT RESEARCH (CARLSBAD) GIA LABORATORY
GEMOLOGICAL INSTITUTE OF AMERICA (GIA)
JEWELRY FORENSICS - JEWELRY APPLICATIONS, MANUFACTURING TRACES AND QUALITY ASSURANCE
Al Gilbertson has more than 50 years’ experience in the industry, being raised in the lapidary business, managing a high end jewelry store with 5 custom goldsmiths and owning a trade shop creating and repairing high-end jewelry items and period jewelry for several major jewelers in Portland OR. Al is most noted for his extensive work as an appraiser and also as a researcher related to cut quality of diamonds. Al left Oregon and has been with GIA since 2000.
Session
In this presentation, learn about Jewelry Forensics and gain insight into the techniques used to identify common manufacturing methods and the distinctive traces left behind. Understand how condition can lead to potential product failure. See how utilizing QA language and knowledge for different jewelry jobs can positively impact customer engagement.
INLAY TECHNIQUES
Chris Ploof has studied with many well-known artists and has apprenticed under a master goldsmith. He has an insatiable curiosity and drive that lead him down long roads even after the challenges at hand have been met. Chris has a series of instructional videos through Interweave and his work is on the cover of Showcase 500 Rings: New Directions in Art Jewelry (Lark, 2012) as well as countless other publications. He is a frequent speaker at industry events and regularly works as a technical consultant to the jewelry industry.
Session
This breakout session will discuss and show through slides, videos and samples an easy way to add pure gold and silver to palladium and platinum using a hot melt inlay technique. Also covered will be simple mokume billets you can make with a torch and very little special equipment as well as patterning examples. Don’t delay! Mix colors today!
IT'S CUSTOM, NOT COPYING: A DISCUSSION OF LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR CUSTOM DESIGN
Tiffany Stevens is the President, CEO & General Counsel of the Jewelers Vigilance Committee, a 102 year old trade organization serving the Jewelry trade. She currently serves on the Boards of the USKPA, USJC and CIBJO. She began her career as an attorney Paul Hastings LLP, later moving to in-house legal & leadership roles in the private and public sectors. Tiffany is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma and NYU School of Law and member of the California Bar Association.
Session
When creating custom jewelry, jewelers have to balance between their legal obligations not to copy others’ work and the requests their client is making of them. Tiffany Stevens, President/CEO and General Counsel at the Jewelers Vigilance Committee, will open the session with a brief primer on copyright and trademark, what copying actually means, and how those creating custom work can protect that work.
BENCH JEWELERS THINK TANK: A ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION ON THE WEAR CHARACTERISTICS OF PLATINUM JEWELRY
Teresa Frye is the founder of the Portland Jewelry Symposium and owner and President of TechForm Advanced Casting Technology in Portland, Oregon. She has over 25 years experience working in the casting industry, having started her career in international sales at Precision Castparts Corp, the world’s leading producer of aerospace castings. In 1994 she co-founded TechForm Advanced Casting Technology, a company specializing in shell casting of platinum and other high temperature metals.
Session
Calling all Platinumsmiths! Anecdotal evidence points strongly towards superior longevity in platinum jewelry versus gold, but the reasons behind this are not well understood. A recent survey of 160 bench jewelers conducted by TechForm Advanced Casting Technology and Platinum Guild International confirmed a number of these superior wear traits, while raising many questions at the same time. This session is an appeal to skilled Platinumsmiths to come join the Think Tank by sharing stories and observations on the differing wear characteristics of gold and platinum jewelry. The input received in this session will form an important basis for further research aimed at both understanding and enhancing the consumer’s wear experience with fine jewelry.
ADAM O’GRADY
GENERAL & PROJECT MANAGER
ELEMENT SIX
JAMIE CADWELL GAGE
LIGHTBOX
INSIDE LIGHTBOX
Adam O’Grady has been very fortunate to be involved in Diamond manufacture his entire working life. It has taken him all over the world including work in Ireland, South Africa, Sweden, China, the U.K. and over the last few months to the U.S. and Portland, Oregon. Up until the last few years the work was mostly for industrial applications but now he is working with Lightbox Jewelry as the Project Manager & General Manager for the new Element Six lab grown diamond facility in Portland.
Jamie Cadwell Gage has worked in the jewelry industry for over 15 years in marketing, PR, brand development and editorial direction for clients including De Beers, Forevermark, World Gold Council, A Diamond is Forever, The Elizabeth Taylor Trust, Gemfields and Lightbox. Prior to that, she worked as an accessories editor at Harper’s Bazaar and Lucky Magazine and attended Barnard College.
Session
Interest in lab grown diamonds is steadily on the rise, and Portland will soon be host to a brand new $94 million facility that is slated to produce over 200,000 polished carats per year. In this breakout session, representatives from Element Six and Lightbox Jewelry will share plans for their new facility, give insights into the growing process, and describe the new market that the Lightbox brand is helping to define.
MAKING MONEY COUNT
Mariel Diaz founded Accounting for Jewelers in 2013 and is Managing Director of the firm. They partner with jewelry businesses throughout the US for bookkeeping, compliance and advisory work. Mariel oversees service operations, develops and implements the company’s long-term initiatives to sustain the jewelry industry, and works directly with clients for advisory services. She was previously a GIA Graduate Gemologist, Certified Bench Jeweler and German-trained gemstone carver before she became an Accountant.
Session
Respect your future with important steps to financial health for your jewelry business. We like to set conservative budgets and uncomfortable yet reasonable sales goals, but we can’t do that without looking to the past. Learn the three key components to reliable numbers, so that each day builds a past that supports your future. See insights from the best reports to plan for the future of your business, and move from managing the past to forecasting your future.
PANEL OF EXPERTS:
CASTING FOR SUCCESS
MODERATED BY TERESA FRYE
Session
Most jewelry designs begin with a casting these days, and the as-cast quality that the jeweler must work with has a tremendous impact on all downstream bench operations. Given that the casting process is one of the most complex aspects of jewelry-making, there are many opportunities for defects to emerge. The art and science of casting consistent high quality product requires broad knowledge of many alloys, investments, machines, methods, and more. This panel of casting experts will explore the more challenging aspects of their work, sharing wisdom gained through decades of hands-on experience.
Teresa Frye is the founder of the Portland Jewelry Symposium and owner and President of TechForm Advanced Casting Technology in Portland, Oregon. She has over 25 years experience working in the casting industry, having started her career in international sales at Precision Castparts Corp, the world’s leading producer of aerospace castings. In 1994 she co-founded TechForm Advanced Casting Technology, a company specializing in shell casting of platinum and other high temperature metals.
Dennis Busby was raised in the New Orleans area and moved to Lafayette to pursue a graphic arts degree at the University of Louisiana in Lafayette. He started working at Stuller in 1983 and worked in the metal fabrication, casting, and refining areas. Dennis became the Casting Director soon after and oversees the day to day casting operations at Stuller. The operation includes casting over 20 different materials each day. He enjoys art, drums and military history.
Joel Meltzer is the Director of Manufacturing at TechForm Advanced Casting Technology. During his career, he has experienced many different media in the arts, from large scale sculptures to printmaking. But it was jewelry-making that captivated him the most while living and working in one of the industry’s capitals, Tucson, AZ. Joel received his BFA with a concentration in metalsmithing from the Oregon College of Art and Craft in 2006, and following that began his career at TechForm. In his current position, among other things, he oversees the wax and 3D printing departments at TechForm, including the regular engineering of sprue designs and casting parameters.
BRETT GOBER
OWNER/GOLDSMITH
FREEDOM DESIGN & CONTRACTING
TRUST BUT VERIFY: A SURVEY OF REFINING RETURNS
Brett Gober is the owner of Freedom Design and Contracting of Hannibal, Missouri. With 40 years in the fine jewelry business, Brett has experience in retail, repair, production management and contract manufacturing.
Session
All users of precious metals must depend on the services of a refiner. We trust them with highly valuable material, but often this trust is blind. There are many ways for a dishonest or inept refiner to abuse this trust. No matter how much we may trust our banker, we don’t just send them a bag of cash, tell them to count it and let us know how much they deposited into our account. That’s just what we do with our scrap metals, though. Now, more than ever, it is important to ensure that your refiner is honest and conscientious. We probably trust our chosen refiner or we would not be using them, but there is always some degree of doubt. Refiners appeal to this doubt with their advertisements and sales calls exclaiming, “Highest Returns!”, “Accurate Assays!”, “Honest Results!” Clearly, refiners want us to think their peers are less than trustworthy – or at least incompetent. This paper will discuss some of the problems of homogenizing and dividing samples for comparative analysis, establish a provable method for evenly dividing a large amount of precious metal grindings, and compare the results from various refiners sent identical samples.
MANUFACTURING TECHNIQUES IN CONTEMPORARY METALS
Adam Rosenberg began working in the jewelry industry at the age of sixteen where he gained firsthand experience with unique materials, exploring many different anodizing and manufacturing techniques. His father’s company, Spectore Corporation, was the first to introduce titanium jewelry to the consumer market and Adam was enamored by the uniqueness and innovation that he experienced in those formative years . He went on to obtain a Bachelors Degree in International Marketing and Asian Studies and then explored industries outside of jewelry, gaining a breadth of experience working for Fortune 100 and 500 companies in a variety of roles. In 2009 Adam returned to Spectore, and following his father’s recent retirement now serves as its President.
Session
Adam will be sharing many aspects of his company’s nearly forty years’ experience in working with contemporary metals such as Titanium, Steel and Cobalt. The session will begin with a general overview of the growth and history in use of contemporary metals within our industry, followed by a spotlight on some of the more exciting pieces you will see in market today. Historical and current manufacturing methods used in working with these materials will be explored, including stamping, blanking, machining, casting, texturing, finishing, and the joining of precious metals to contemporary metals. These materials, whose origins were more widely used for purposes of aerospace and medical application, are truly a manufacturing feat in the marriage of art and science to deliver product that you now see at every retail level within our industry.
GEM LEGACY: SHARING THE "GEMS DO GOOD" STORY
Rachel Dery, G.G. is the Director of Communication and Outreach for Gem Legacy. She spends her days communicating with the mining communities on specific initiatives and telling their stories through Gem Legacy, an East African-focused 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to supporting education, vocational training, and local economies in East African mining communities.
Rachel spent her early years in the jewelry industry marketing for retail jewelers before returning to the family business, Roger Dery Gem Design, where she focuses on her dream for the future: exponential progress at the source of East African colored gemstones. Rachel has visited each of these Gem Legacy initiatives during her six visits to East Africa.
Session
The goal of Gem Legacy is to cast a vision of giving back that the entire gem and jewelry industry can support and use as a vehicle for transformation in their businesses. By investing in holistic (mind, body, and soul) sourcing, the jewelry industry can support those who make colored stones possible, create a Gem Legacy, and share with clients stories of the exponential GOOD that gemstones are doing around the world.
BEYOND DESIGN: CAD ON THE BENCH AND IN THE SHOP
Gary Dawson is a designer/goldsmith and the owner of Gary Dawson Designs, an online custom design operation that was named a “Best of the Best” by Instore Magazine. He is also an Accredited Rhino Trainer and owner of Rhino Jewelry CAD, a CAD education resource. With more than 40 years’ experience in creating designs that capture the personalities and stories of his customers, Gary is a frequent contributor to both MJSA Journal and MJSA Custom Jeweler, and a former tech columnist for Jewellery Business magazine. He has presented at numerous industry events and conferences including the renowned Santa Fe Symposium®, AGTA GemFair Tucson and MJSA Expo in New York City.
Session
While CAD has been widely adapted into the jewelry industry by designers, it may be under-utilized in other aspects of the typical jewelry workshop. By integrating cutting-edge design and manufacturing strategies into more traditional bench techniques, we can streamline repair and restoration activities in the workshop while breathing new life into our small workshop businesses. Using the most appropriate and efficient process for any given task can help refresh revenue channels by making more types of restorations possible.
HOW TO KEEP YOUR LINES FRESH BY ITERATING USING ZBRUSH™
Tomas Wittelsbach worked a sculptor in the film industry during his early career days and then jumped into the digital sculpting world after his friend David Krentz introduced him to Zbrush™ software. This powerful digital sculpting tool changed Tomas’ work and life forever, and for the last fourteen years he has been using it to sculpt a wide variety of organic jewelry and objects of art. For Tomas, every day is a digital exploration focused on elevating the art aspect of jewelry design and manufacturing.
Session
During this session Tomas will introduce you to Zbrush™, an innovative digital sculpting tool. He will provide an overview of how anyone can use this software to expand design possibilities for high-end jewelry pieces and give new life to their current and past library of CAD models.
KRISTI BROUSSARD
TOOLS AND SUPPLIES SALES SPECIALIST
STULLER INC.
ANGELA BUSBY
MASTER BENCH JEWELER
STULLER INC.
STULLER PRESENTS BENCH DEMOS WITH KRISTI BROUSSARD & ANGELA BUSBY
Master Stone Setter Kristi Broussard has been with Stuller for 24 years. After rising through the ranks during her 19 years in the stone setting department , She is now a key part of Stuller’s Tools Tech Team. In addition to helping customers solve tools-related challenges , She remains one of Stuller’s top stone setting experts. Most Recently Kristi has been working on sharing her talent and experience through teaching classes designed for Stuller customers.
Bench Session
In this session Kristi will be demonstrating how to apply different finishes to metal using tools and supplies that most artisans have at the bench or are readily available for purchase. Finishes such as satin, stone and ice will be demonstrated. She will also have discussion on other finishes such as hammer, rock, florentine, bead blast and silk. Kristi will cover the tools and methods used to achieve these varied finishing techniques.
Angela Busby started her career in the jewelry industry in 1984. She has worked for Stuller for 34 years, starting in the finishing department and working her way through assembly and becoming a master model maker and wax carver. She left Stuller for a time and taught at Louisiana Technical College and became a Certified Jewelry Manufacturing Instructor. In 1998 she received certification as a Senior Bench Jeweler with Jewelers of America. Angela was the first person to receive this certification in Louisiana as well as the first woman to receive this certification in the nation. She is currently the Lead Trainer at Stuller for all manufacturing and is blessed to have met and work together with her very talented husband, Dennis Busby at Stuller.
Bench Session
During this bench demonstration session we will be discussing the dos and don’ts when soldering platinum including the proper tools and techniques that prevent contamination. Angela will also have a bench demonstration and discussion on tips and advice on flowing rose gold solder.