I was asked to blog about "why to buy from HUGO KOHL instead of at the mall, department store etc." There are all sorts of reasons to purchase from any sort of place-and there are lots of reasons a person might want choose mall/department stores over HUGO KOHL. For instance, those types of stores carry all sorts of brands and a person can make "safe" choices there. From me, all you get are my design choices; you are dealing with only my ideas about personal adornment. Purchasing from me would be a very concise decision about wearing a well defined style that combines history, femininity and appreciation for a true art form.

At larger chains, you can also depend on a certain amount of obsequious ass-kissing. At HUGO KOHL, as occasionally gets revealed, I'm going to tell it to you straight. Make it difficult for me to do business with you past a certain point-with a lot of wavering and unreasonable expectations-and the deal is off. Obviously, I'll try to help you as best as I can, but the customer is not always right. Making money is certainly an important part of my business, but at the end of the day, enjoying what I do and upholding the integrity of my work comes first.

Maybe the question is better asked: Why do I do this job? Why do I make these things? What is my mission?

The answer: I have always enjoyed working with my hands...so much that it's become almost impossible for me to do work that doesn't involve flames, sparks, dirty clothes, scraped knuckles and struggling over how to do something new. These constraints could have had me being a carpenter, watchmaker, mechanic, machinist, farmer, etc. But I make jewelry. Beautiful jewelry. In fact, I want to to make the most beautiful jewelry in the world. These are pieces a man might give to the woman he is in love with. They're pieces a father gives to his daughter to set an example as to how she should expect to be valued by all the men in her life.

And so let me tell you this: I have an incredible workshop with the very coolest, most interesting tools in the world. I've been well trained by some very talented craftsmen. I have 25 years of constant bench work under my belt. Nothing fills my heart with so much satisfaction as to slip in my shop, lock the doors, unplug the phones and channel my most private emotions and feelings into a gift for someone I love. What I offer for sale are derivations of these things—and that is why you might choose me over a department store or chain store in the mall.