Jewellery maintenance

This week I want to talk about maintaining your jewellery. Every custom piece of jewellery that I make is built to last. I use a slightly heavier gauge of metal in my work and it not only gives the piece a very luxurious feel, but also makes the rings more durable and gives them more longevity. I offer free, yearly maintenance on every piece that I make. What this allows me to do is clean the gems and buff out any scratches, it also allows me to check for any wear and tear issues that could be coming up because of lifestyle or other factors. I find that a little preventative maintenance goes further than trying to solve problems after they happen.

A lot of my clients find that it's a nice anniversary tradition. They come down for a visit, drop off their rings, grab a coffee or lunch in the Distillery and then pick them up 20-30 minutes later all sparkly and polished. I love it as I get to see all the rings that I have made over the years come back, and I get to re-connect with clients and chat. The pictures to the left are of a set that I made a couple of years ago that recently came back for maintenance. With the minor scratches gone and a little clean for the diamond they look as good as the day they said
"I do"

Distillery must see

For those of you who have never visited my studio, I am located in Toronto's Historic Distillery District - a collection of old Victorian buildings once home of the Gooderham and Worts Distillery, turned into a funky collection of shops, galleries, and restaurants. I consider myself very lucky to work in such an inspirational place, full of artists and creative people. When it first opened in 2003 there was a bit of a touristy feel to the district, but over the last couple of years the area has really come into its own, settling in and starting to feel like a community. With recent additions of new condominiums, there are more and more people calling the Distillery home, helping to foster the neighbourhood feeling.

There is also construction going on right across the street, where they are building the Athlete's Village for the Pan Am Games that Toronto is hosting in 2015. I think the plan after the games is to retrofit the buildings into condos. What that means for me, is that the city and province are fast-tracking a plan to develop the area around the distillery, and that's great news as it will bring more people, and better transit to the area, which is currently most easily accessible by car...

So that's the back-story, but my real intention with this post, and in some future posts, is to tell you about some of my favourite places and things that can be found in the Distillery. Or to put it a different way, the 3-4 things a person should do to have a great Distillery experience. Your first stop should be my studio of course, where you need to come in and get decked out in diamonds and sapphires, I mean positively dripping with gems... once you've done that, your ready for lunch!

Next stop is the Brick Street Bakery for the best sandwich ever made - the "Brick Street Club." Let me set the scene... Warm, marinated chicken breast, thick sliced bacon, chipotle mayo with a hint of spice to it, lettuce, tomato, and red onion on Brick Street's very own chibata buns... This sandwich is so good, I get a little sad when I'm half-way through and I know that it's almost over. Brick Street has a board full of sandwiches (along with breads and sweets) and there are a few close seconds - the Lamb Kofta, and the Boxing Day Sandwiches are amazing in their own right... but the Club goes to eleven on my scale of ten!!!

Garnet Deco ring finished!

Well here it is!
After weeks of working on it the Garnet Art Deco ring is finished and in the case ready for the right person to come along and fall in love with it. Going with a Garnet is not typical of the era... but I think it's ok to bend the rules a bit when you are doing an interpretation.

I know these photos are very similar but they each show a slightly different angle and there is so much going on in this ring that I decided to use them both. It's the kind of piece that needs to be held and looked at for a couple of minutes to really appreciate the detail. I had a guy stop by the studio yesterday and ask "Is that the garnet ring from the blog?" My little ring is a celebrity!

Garnet Deco ring almost finished!

The stones are set! The colour of this garnet is so deep and rich. I have been developing the hand engraving for it and I have settled on a couple of architectural elements that I think will really give the ring a unique Deco perspective.... I'll give you a hint! It will be inspired by a New York landmark.

garnet deco progress

The fall rush is mostly delivered and the Christmas orders are starting to come in but not crazy yet so that left a little time to work on the garnet ring. I cast it and cleaned it up. This is an in progress shot. I need to set the stones and do a bit of hand engraving but I am pleased with the results so far. I want the hand engraving to be a strong element but not take over. I have a couple of ideas that I am developing... I'll post a sketch or two soon.