Fifty years is a significant milestone for any business. For John Atencio, it is also a reminder of just how far a leap of faith can take you. When Atencio began designing and making jewelry five decades ago, he wasn't setting out to build a nationally recognized brand or create a business that would span generations. He was simply drawn to the creative process and the satisfaction of making something with his own hands.
“I enjoyed working with my hands. I enjoyed making jewelry,” he says. “I thought it was an opportunity, but…I didn’t really know enough about what I was doing.”
So, he did what would become a defining characteristic of his career: He jumped in with both feet.
Over time, the business evolved alongside its founder, its customers, and the jewelry industry itself. As John Atencio celebrates its 50th anniversary, the occasion offers a chance to consider not only what has endured, but how much has changed.
Atencio's approach to design today bears little resemblance to those early years of experimentation. In the beginning, he describes the process as largely trial and error, learning how to design and construct jewelry while figuring out what people would respond to. “Today, it’s much more about planning,” he says. “The marketing is very much a big part of the design, and the people that we’re selling to.”
Yet the evolution hasn't meant abandoning the creative instincts that started it all. Atencio says he still finds the greatest satisfaction in creating something new, especially because every new piece brings its own set of challenges. “There’s a different challenge every time you start a new design, and you’re not really knowing exactly how it’s all going to work,” he says.
That balance between creativity and practicality has become essential to sustaining a business for half a century. Atencio has developed a recognizable aesthetic, but he also understands that a jewelry company has to respond to the people who wear its pieces and the realities of running a business.
For a brand whose jewelry is now known well beyond the state, its Colorado identity remains central to Atencio's story. He was born and raised in Colorado, educated here, and has never lived anywhere else. Although his business has taken him around the world, he has always considered Colorado home. Those roots weren't simply sentimental; they gave him relationships and connections that proved invaluable when he was starting out.
“I think there was a real advantage to having people that I knew, having family that I could work with, having a better understanding of the Colorado market,” he says. That local foundation has remained part of the company's identity even as the brand has grown more sophisticated. Atencio notes that customers who know the brand primarily for its polished image may not always realize just how deeply local its roots are.
Family has been woven into the company throughout its history. At different points, Atencio's mother, wife, children, siblings, nephews, and cousins have all been involved. That involvement has meant more than simply filling roles within a company. Atencio describes his relatives as becoming part of “the fabric and the thread of the business,” carrying with them a sense of pride and ownership.
Atencio knows that longevity isn't guaranteed. Fifty years of business have included strong periods as well as economic downturns and personal challenges. He describes success as coming at a price. “I think there’s a lot of hardship and a lot of work that goes into being successful,” he says. “There’s been a lot of winning, and there’s been a fair amount of losing.” Those experiences, he says, have shaped his character and taught him what it takes to sustain a business over decades.
Looking ahead, Atencio hopes the jewelry itself—and the company behind it—will continue beyond his tenure.
For now, though, he remains focused on the present. The anniversary may mark five decades of accomplishment, but Atencio isn't particularly interested in dwelling on the past. New designs remain to be created, new challenges to be solved, and another chapter to be written.
“I’m very much in the present,” he says. And perhaps that is the most fitting way to celebrate 50 years: not by looking backward, but by continuing to create. “I’m really proud of 50 years, and I’m still very passionate about what we do and about what I create,” Atencio says. “I love my work, and I hope to be doing it for the rest of my life.”
To learn more, visit JohnAtencio.com.