Durham jewellery maker thriving at 79-years-old :: WRAL.com

As the worth of gold surges to document ranges amid financial uncertainty, a Durham metalsmith says prospects for the jewellery he makes haven’t turned away.

Ken Weston is the chief goldsmith at Hamilton Hill Jewelry in Durham the place he’s labored for the previous seven years.

His profession, spanning 50 years, began when his dad gave him some instruments again house in Long Island.

“I made (hair clips) in the late 60s and sold at the flea markets,” Weston stated. “They were very popular. They’re what launched this whole thing.”

His profession took many turns — at one level touring cross-country in a VW van changed into a camper full with a workbench. Later, he labored in a pawn store.

Now, in between repairs and buyer orders at Hamilton Hill, he additionally designs his personal items. Even as the price of making jewellery rises.

“We have one designer in Brazil that we can’t get stuff from anymore because we have a 50 percent tariff on that stuff. It puts more demand on what I produce because we can’t source that,” Weston stated. “Pieces of jewelry get more expensive because of it but people haven’t stopped buying.”

At his workbench on a weekday afternoon Weston labored on one among his extra standard designs — a wood-inlaid wedding ceremony band from his “Timbers” assortment.

He made one of many first items for himself 12 years in the past, a nod to his father’s profession as a nice furnishings maker.

“I think there are about 50 of (the rings) out there,” Weston stated. “It’s been really successful, people wear them and they wear them for years and years.”

Hamilton Hill proprietor Sarah Hill says Weston’s creativity and dedication is why she determined to rent him after a long time of friendship.

The youngest smith within the store is Kai Hill — no relation to Sarah Hill. Kai apprenticed underneath Weston and now runs her personal jewellery enterprise alongside the work she does on the store.

“He’s a brilliant mind, so I’m very lucky to work with him,” Kai Hill stated.

As a part of her enterprise, Kai makes use of Instagram to advertise her work — a digital showroom of types. But she stated prospects — within the store or on-line — aren’t on the lookout for dupes or AI.

They need the true factor made by actual folks.

“It could have been a dying art and it’s really having a comeback,” Kai Hill stated. “As things get more techy, people always want to see what the opposite of that is as well.”

Neither she nor Weston fear about know-how’s influence on the work that they do.

“Handwork is never going to go away,” Weston stated.

Ken Weston is popping 80 later this month and stated he has no plans to retire.