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Jewelry Designer a True Original
By Lori Rypka
Not many 35 year olds can say they have nearly two decades of
experience in their profession. Jewelry designer Alison Myers can, and has been dazzling the customers of R. Bruce
Carson Jewelers in Hagerstown, Md. since 2007.
Myers had the opportunity while in high school in Pennsylvania to attend a vocational, trade and technical school,
where she studied marketing and distributive education. She learned of a position at Best Jewelers in Philipsburg,
Pa., and thought it would be interesting.
Store owner Carl Link took Myers under his wing and showed her how the different aspects of the store worked. After
she graduated from high school, he offered her a full-time job. He continued to teach her about the differences
in diamonds and gemstones, then offered her a scholarship to the Gemological Institute of America. She learned
more on diamond grading and colored stones - "everything you need to be in the jewelry industry," she
said.
Myers yearned for even more information, so Link taught her how to engrave and repair jewelry, install watch batteries
and size rings. She appreciated the education, but decided it was not what she wanted to focus on.
At age 71, Link was ready to retire, and with no other family members to pass the business to, he offered for Myers
to take it over. She was ready to take on her own business, but was interested in moving away from Pennsylvania.
"Go start your own business because you're good enough to do this," Myers said Link told her.
Myers opened Colonial Jewelers in Martinsburg, W.Va., at age 21 and ran it for five years. In that business, she
began creating designs and making custom pieces of jewelry. "I wanted to be different from the mall stores,"
she said. People began to take note of her work and came to her when looking for something different, she said.
Carrying unusual stones such as apatite and watermelon tourmaline, Myers enjoyed creating one-of-a-kind pieces
for her customers.
After five years, Myers closed the shop and moved to Hawaii, where she worked for the Black Pearl Gallery designing
pendants, rings and mountings. There she worked primarily with Black Tahitian Pearls.
Yearning to be closer to family, Myers returned to this area and met Tom Newcomer, owner of R. Bruce Carlson Jewelers,
a family-owned guild jeweler since 1902. "It was the only place that I felt was a good connection between
me and what I could bring to his business," she said.
Carson was already making custom jewelry pieces, so Myers' talents fit in well. There she creates designs and works
with master jeweler Kevin Newhouse, who designs using a CAD machine, then builds the piece.
Once a design is made on the computer, it is carved into a piece of wax, then metal is poured into it. All of this
work is done at the store, and takes between two and four weeks from concept to completion.
Myers has designed custom pieces with the Carson logo, and a design for the Barbara Ingram School in Hagerstown
as well as other organizations, which were used on pendants and lapel pins.
The designer enjoys working with all materials, but has a special interest in working with rose gold and 18 karat
gold. "My designs are more contemporary. I try to make them more artsy or unique instead of the same old,
same old." She also tries to incorporate the customer's personality into the piece. "Jewelry is more
emotional than it is anything," she said.
Myers also works in line with the latest jewelry trends. The "love knot" has been popular of late, and
Myers has developed pieces in the same vein. Also, 80 percent of customers request white gold, although yellow
gold is making a comeback, she said. In the 1980s and 1990s, "you couldn't give away white gold." A lot
of what people request is based on what manufacturers are advertising. Her influences are affected both by the
customer's requests and what she has seen in trade publications.
"I enjoy working with Alison. … She has a lot of creative ideas," Newhouse said. He added that her designs
and sense of ideas contribute to the business overall. "She brings many years of experience despite her youth,"
he said. |
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