Who is Bob Staley, anyway? And what is a Jewelry Artisan?

My name is Bob Staley. I'm a jewelry artisan who is passionate about his work! I've been a jeweler, goldsmith, platinumsmith, and custom jewelry designer since 1979 (WHEW!). Good ol' Wikipedia says, "An artisan, also called a craftsman, is a skilled manual worker who crafts items that may be functional or strictly decorative, including ... jewelry. The use of hands and hand tools impart an individuality to each item."
Perhaps a better way of saying it, a jewelry artisan is all about sentiment. Every day and most of my waking hours I am either creating sentiment by crafting new pieces for my clients OR I'm perpetuating sentiment by restoring or repairing the pieces that already mean so much to my clients. I love my job!

My retail repair and custom shop is in Cartersville, GA (Metro Atlanta) where I have had the pleasure of working one-on-one with my wonderful clients and friends for the past 22 years. Over the past 30 years I have repaired/restored jewelry for literally thousands of clients (YES THOUSANDS of individuals, jewelry stores, antique jewelry dealers) across North America. I am a full service jeweler who utilizes the latest technologies available to my industry along with "old world" craftsmanship to create, restore, and repair jewelry. These technologies assist me in creating beautiful, precision, one-of-a-kind and mass produced pieces. My slogan is "There is only one you, why wear a copy?"

I am also a published author in some of the jewelry industry's trade magazines, a lecturer and master trainer in jewelry applications LASER welding, and sales rep for Rofin-Baasel LASERs. I have ten years and many thousands of hours experience in jewelry applications LASER welding and have lectured to and trained hundreds of jewelers nationwide in the techinques of LASER welding jewelry. LASERS ARE COOL!!!
LASERS can be used to make and repair jewelry in ways that traditional torch and solder methods cannot . I'll post some pictures soon of some before and after LASER welding projects. BTW- WHY am I using all caps when I type LASER? No, I'm not shouting, though if you have a LASER it's certainly something to shout about! LASER is actually an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.

I enjoy using CAD/CAM technology in my shop as well. I use Gemvision's Digital Goldsmith 5 Pro two dimensional design software and Matrix 6 3D Design software to create my designs. My customer's love the Vray software I use to show them their masterpieces BEFORE I actually make them in metal and stones. It beats the heck out of a "stick figure" pencil drawing of a jewelry design on a scrap piece of paper any day! GEMVISION ROCKS!!!

I also have a Roland MDX-40 CNC Mill to "cut" my designs in wax models that I can then cast into the metal of my clients choosing.

Thanks for wading through my little introduction. Just wanted you to know who this Bob Staley, Jewelry Artisan was.

I hope you will visit often, browse my design galleries, and post any questions you might have concerning jewelry, jewelry design, or LASER welding jewelry. I will periodically post topics of interest and things that I have learned over the past 30 years!



All the BEST!

Bob