In the back of the gallery of David Adams Jewelry, there is a door that leads to a hallway. If this were the usual jewelry store, that hallway might lead to a meeting room or a place to store incoming items. But, David Adams Jewelry is one of the rare jewelry stores in the country to handcraft its own creations.
While his daughter Brittany tends to those customers interested in having their designs handmade, David is back in this workshop at the end of the hallway. There, a fire is burning. David stands over charred bricks with a blazing torch. Tools surround him on the tables. Burnishers. Pliers. Anvils. Dapping blocks. Wires. Mandrels. Meanwhile, metal is melting under extreme temperatures and then being reformed into designs from his customers’ imagination.
Along the wall next to David, there are a row of jeweler’s benches. Each one of these desks is designed to provide a space to perform the intricate details in crafting jewelry. But, at the center of his workshop, there is one bench special to David.
He got it at his first job as an apprentice goldsmith. Originally from Santa Cruz, California, David found an opportunity to work for stonesetter Joseph Sauer in nearby Aptos. David said that a lightbulb went off in that first moment entering the store. “I knew I wanted to do it as soon as I stepped into that guy’s shop,” he said. David said it was the diligent, hands-on, and creative nature that drew him in. There with Sauer, he would sweep the floor and learn the techniques required, like stone setting, engraving, and alloying metals. But, after six months, He and Joe decided it was time for David to have his own bench.
Lacking the money for one, David found a friend who would build it in exchange for work. David would do landscaping for months and help him sand the wood before finally getting the bench he would work on for over 40 years.
At the other end of David Adams Jewelry, there is a painting special to his journey. In the corner of the painting, it reads the name “Feriozzi.” David began working for goldsmith and jewelry craftsman Orlando Feriozzi in Carmel in his mid-20’s. Feriozzi taught him an art of hand fabrication that few people practice today in jewelry.
David said this period of his life was “an opportunity of a lifetime that taught me so much of what I know.” But, after 5 years, Feriozzi decided it was time for David to expand his experience in the field. After applying to places all over the country, David received plane tickets in the mail to Fayetteville, Arkansas. After visiting, he received an offer to work at Underwoods Fine Jewelry. After accepting, he moved to Northwest Arkansas in 1992.
When that job ended a few years later in 1994, he took up shop above a law firm on the square, where he would bring products from other stores to fix and then deliver back. After working diligently for his reputation as a craftsman, David was offered a place on the square. This is where David Adams Jewelry sits today. During this time in the early 90s, however, David wasn’t exactly sure if he should stay in Arkansas. But, at the Walton Arts Center displaying some of his creations, David happened to see a painting flash by with the name Feriozzi on it. He asked the woman about the painting, and she said it was a picture of a street in Rome. That is where Orlando Feriozzi’s first store was. “That was the last sign,” he said. He knew he was home in Fayetteville.
Back in his workshop, David has many beautiful ring molds that he’s held onto from years of design. Yet, there is one creation that stands out among the rest. It is not the most elaborate, but it is the most meaningful: a “Mother’s Ring”
In 2008, during the recession, many businesses had a difficult time staying afloat. During this time, however, around the time of Mother’s Day, David created a concept that would be special for mothers. Each ring held a place for the name of a child. His message to them was, “From the heart to the hand, as if your child wrote their name for the very first time.” David said that, soon after, he got 300 orders in just one day, and orders wouldn’t stop for years. “I’m telling you, that saved my store,” he said.
Few jewelry stores have a workshop like this, with a passionate and talented craftsman like David Adams. David said he could stay back in his shop all day because of the joy of creating beautiful pieces for customers' special moments.
“I knew I wanted to do it as soon as I stepped into that guy’s shop."
Mother's Rings- “From the heart to the hand, as if your child wrote their name for the very first time.”