My friend Jessa Cast is an avid reader, author and researcher of words.

Additionally, she was brought up in the Jewelry industry. Her entire close family are prior owners of Rio Grande Jewelry Supply of Albuquerque, NM. We both hope you enjoy this foray into the etymology of words related to the jewelry industry. We hope Jessa can make this a regular part of this space!

And you’ve heard about algorithms, right? It really helps us if you “like” this and don’t forget to subscribe if you’d like to hear more about jewelry industry topics here on the Gary Dawson Designs Podcast!

Note: Jessa’s official title with The Jewelry Symposium is Event Coordinator rather than director.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit garydawsondesigns.substack.com

A new event in collaboration with the Atlanta Jewelry Show, Bench Fusion seeks to provide bench jewelers of all levels with practical information about the modern bench, useful bench tools, and how to most effectively use them. From CAD to pouring ingots, there will be a lot here for not much money ($99). Full information and registration when it opens can be found here…

Joel and I chat about what’s there, who is instructing, how to attend, and of course, more.

Just a note about the Gary Dawson Designs Podcast…I’ve taken some time away from podcasting, not so much from lack of interest from either myself or my listeners, the reaction to the podcast has been great! That it’s been a distracting year may be an understatement of some magnitude. :) All that being said, doing this with Joel has rekindled my intent to become consistent again, so I hope you will look for and look forward to more coming soon. I’m very open to ideas from you, the people I hope to serve, with suggestions on what sort of topics and guests I should consider for future episodes. Don’t hesitate to volunteer yourself as a guest if you have something you’d like to get out to the listenership.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit garydawsondesigns.substack.com

Dear Friends,

This Podcast is intended as a service, giving back to an industry that has given me so much over the last 5 decades.  If you like what I’m doing, please hit the “like” button on this episode and any others you may enjoy on this Substack page and don’t forget to subscribe! There’s a lot of great content in interviews with Jewelry Industry luminaries such as Torry Hoover, owner of Hoover & Strong, Eddie Bell (the Bell family founded Rio Grande Jewelry Supply) Sharon Rivera, (Bikini Jeweler) and many more well-known folks in the industry. And if you have something to say, make a comment. I rely on your feedback and suggestions to make this content better.  I’m trying to keep this content free for subscribers, but if you would like to show appreciation for what I’m doing, you might consider “buying me a coffee” at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/gdawson

And now, please enjoy this energetic interview with Aleah Arundale, Queen of “Jewelers Helping Jewelers” on Facebook!

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit garydawsondesigns.substack.com

I hope you enjoy this podcast with my friends Joel McFadden and Jim Dailing! Our loose focus in this episode is how to work with your custom designer and it is primarily aimed at retail establishments that job out design and even perhaps production work. If your jewelry business is not yet doing custom work, you should be and this episode will give you some great tips on how to get started. And if you are an established custom designer/manufacturer, there’s a lot here for you too. A lot here also for retail clients that would like to have something special made by and expert in the field.

First, let’s look at what “Custom Design” really means in the jewelry industry. The MJSA Council on Custom Jewelry came up with these definitions for different levels of custom work…

Full Custom Design: A jewelry design made from scratch specifically for a customer.Semi-Custom Design: Existing designs that have been modified to alter their shapes or appearance.Made to Order: Existing designs manufactured by request, modified only by sizing and choice of metal and/or gemstone.

If you like this episode, please hit the “like” button above.

And we’ve asked for suggestions on future topics for the, “bench buddies babbling on brew” trio!

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit garydawsondesigns.substack.com

I hope you find this podcast as interesting as I did. Eddie, the former co-owner of Rio Grande Jewelry Supply and the founder of the Santa Fe Symposium on Jewelry Manufacturing Technology (SFS) is a wealth of knowledge. The insight he shares about his motivation for starting the SFS is a point about collaboration and sharing that the jewelry industry could well consider yet today.

Thank you for reading Too Vain to Fail. This post is public so feel free to share it.

Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit garydawsondesigns.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit garydawsondesigns.substack.com

Linus Drogs is the founder of The Jewelry Symposium (TJS), the new, premiere event for technical information in the jewelry industry. I hope you will give this a listen and consider coming the TJS this year, it’s only a few short weeks away and we still have room for a few more attendees. You can visit TJS website for more details on our speakers, topics and about how to register here.

Thanks for reading Too Vain to Fail! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit garydawsondesigns.substack.com

Please enjoy this shorter podcast with Sharon (Bikini Jeweler) Rivera. She’s down-to-earth and downright funny. Check out her instagram here and you’ll see what I mean. You may note that I’m wearing one of her t-shirts in the episode picture and to get one too check out her shopify!

Thanks for reading Too Vain to Fail! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Thank you for reading Too Vain to Fail. This post is public so feel free to share it.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit garydawsondesigns.substack.com

In this shorter episode, (1.5 hrs.) Joel and I answer questions from listeners and discuss the merits of brick & mortar vs. online business models. We have both done both and currently have different goals so it makes for interesting discussion.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit garydawsondesigns.substack.com

With only about a week to go until the the major Tucson Gem Shows open, this is the perfect podcast to settle into to learn about Fair Trade and Sustainable gem sourcing and the Gem Show itself. From show descriptions to the best restaurants, it’s all here!

Thanks for reading Too Vain to Fail! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit garydawsondesigns.substack.com