The Tucson Gem Show in February was a blast. One of the things we enjoyed most this year was having more time to hang out with friends in the business and watching lots of sunsets at Gate’s Pass — one of the best places in the world to witness the sun descending beneath the horizon.
As promised, we are featuring one of our vendors so that you may get to know the people behind all of these wonderful pieces we bring into the store.
Our star vendor this year is Steve Wolf, a creative Oregon jewelry designer based in Ashland who has been a good friend for years. Many of you may have heard of him because we’ve been carrying his line of jewelry for a long time. His pieces are very distinctive, high quality work, and usually differentiated from other jewelry by his designs and the cut out shapes on the back side of his pieces. He also uses a lot of Oregon material such as picture jasper, morrisonite and polka dot agate. I haven’t seen other jewelers using these particular stones to the degree he does, and we love it as Oregon rocks are one of our specialties.
Steve was born in Chicago and moved to Laguna Beach, CA. when he was a year old. From there, his family moved around to England, Hawaii, Australia, Japan, upstate New York and back to Laguna. At age nine, Steve learned how to cut stones and discovered he had a real affinity for it. In his twenties, Steve learned the construction trade and was able to build and invest in a couple of houses. He flipped them and reinvested his profit in the jewelry business in the 1980s. Originally he began his new career with his brother Richard, who went on to start his own jewelry business, Far Fetched, and is still in business today as well.
At the height of Steve’s jewelry business in the 1990s, he had 70 full time jewelry smiths in Taxco, Mexico producing his designs. For many years he supplied stores such as Nordstroms, Bullocks, Robinsons, Natural Wonders and Disney. One of his designs that sold millions all over the world was a sterling silver globe pendant featuring a chime inside.
Steve raised his daughter by himself and would bring her down to Mexico with him when she was very young. In addition to creating fabulous jewelry, Steve enjoys building and developing homes, playing guitar, and traveling around the world.
Picture Jasper Pendant
Susan & Steve at Gate's Pass
I bought a lovely fire opal pendant with a beautiful cut out heart from Fossil Cartel last year – all this time I couldn’t remember the name of the designer. Steve Wolf! What a wonderful way to learn about his story. The piece was a birthday present for my opal-happy partner, Sally. She wears it close to her heart nearly every day as it’s her favorite – she will wear it when we have our Civil Partnership here in England later in the year. It’s become a very special reminder of our love, the beauty of opals, the amazing craftsmanship that goes into selecting, refining, designing jewelry, and my chosen hometown of Portland. Thank you for bringing it all together, Fossil Cartel, and for continuing to be the best shop for all things rocks & gems!
well I found you again dear friend…and you look so very happy with Susan! I am glad you got your heart untangled and looks like you found your soulmate there!
Maybe you could visit with her here and I could give her a facial and maybe you too????
gosh we are only 4 hours away! I know I am busy with staying afloat at the office…and Kip does not travel much…we have animals…but you are more mobil…you look great…sending love…always…Caite
Hey Caite,
Steve and I are just friends. He’s doing well, though. Thanks for writing!