Hugo Kohl, LLC

Introduction to the HUGO HK KOHL brand and website

Mon, 23 Jan 2017 00:00:00 GMT

This blog is about the transformation from what I used to want to do in my jewelry making and design to new ideas about how I want to express myself through my work. This past December my jewelry manufacturing company launched a new website, mfg.hugokohl.com. It is a substantial departure from the old webpage and intended to express my ideas about making objects of love.

With the launching of the mfg.hugokohl.com site I transform from a wholesale manufacturer of 1920's-1930's pierced filigree pieces to a branded collection representing my ideas about what is good design. The designs from the old website are now relabeled hkmfg.com (Hugo Kohl Manufacturing) and are faithfully lifted from our hub vault and made affordable to the vintage fine jewelry trade. I think it will be interesting to write about my work as it pertains to manufacturing products faithful to a vintage jewelry market. There has turned out to be a wealth of knowledge to be found looking backward in time to where artisanal handcraft meets the industrial age. Being a hub cutter or tool and die maker working in the industrial age jewelry industry of Providence, RI would make you one of the most skilled artisans in history.

Copying, imitating, improving, and understanding the things they were doing with their stamping and fabricating of jewelry has been challenging. Just trying to duplicate what they were doing 100 years ago has been a rewarding piece of work but not entirely satisfying. I'm also interested in voicing some ideas of my own departing from that tried and true formula to do something more risky. Reproducing “safe” designs from old Waite-Thresher or Ostby & Barton drawings faithfully is technically challenging but involves no risky personal expression. Using these workstations, libraries of design and this factory as a vehicle to express my personal feelings about the world feels like a more significant goal. It also can be a bit edgy. What I've been doing these past couple of years expressing personal tastes feels more like taking all my clothes off and hoisting my carcass up the flagpole for everyone to criticize and possibly ridicule than it does like manufacturing.

I also want to write about the meaning of work and the virtue of the skilled craftsman. Even though we operate in a competitive market place and must be successful in it to do the work I love to do, it's not just the market in general or even the specific customer I do this for. I do this work for myself and for it's own sake. I do it for the craftsman next to me who I first show my work to because he's there and the only person knowledgeable enough to even see it with an appreciative eye.

Dan Wilson and Hugo Kohl working at the bench

I do it for someone I love, for whom I've thoughtfully gathered these tools and knowledge to craft a symbol that says a true, meaningful thing. I do it because of what it means to make, invent and articulate your imagination with your hands. I often compare the tasks we do in this workshop with working in the newspaper printing facility next door. Here we spend our days crafting beautiful designs and figuring out complicated, intricate processes with the intention of crafting someone's (or my own) personal expression of love. Everything is an intense concentration of long time skill sets lovingly groomed. I think it must be less enjoyable loading rolls of newsprint onto a carriage, then running around to the back of the press to watch the folded papers come flying out of the giant printing machine. The point being that I think all of us find engaged, interesting work that challenges our imagination and intellect more meaningful that being an attendant to a machine.

Handmade means handmade

I started formally apprenticing in the jewelry trade in 1987, working under the guidance of several very talented master goldsmiths and knowledgeable dealers who specialized in vintage and antique jewelry. Through mastering the art and science of restoring these antique pieces, I developed a great appreciation for the sophisticated designs and quality craftsmanship inherent in period pieces coming from first and second wave Industrial Age manufacturers of Providence, Rhode Island. I was regularly encountering sophisticated, solidly built, beautifully designed pieces of vintage filigree jewelry. and they set the standard for what I would regard as aspirational examples of the kind of work I wanted to do. Years later, I opened my own trade shop and, in 1993, visited Providence for the first time.

Providence revealed itself to me through a feature in the travel section of The Washington Post. Described as an important contributor to American culture, a foodie’s delight and extremely friendly to tourists, it became that year’s summer vacation destination. The article also mentioned the Providence Jewelry Museum and the Jewelry District, which, unbeknownst to me, were destined to influence everything.

Armed with a tourist map and an interest in exploring some of Providence’s historic Jewelry District, I ended up making a field trip to a dealer in factory-scale jewelry manufacturing machinery. I was rummaging around in this old warehouse complex when I noticed workers dumping broken boxes of steel parts into a dump truck to be sold for scrap metal. As they were loading, one of the boxes broke open and pieces spilled out on the ground. While I didn’t have a true understanding of what I was looking at, I knew intuitively that it contained very important jewelry designs. As the truck pulled away I quickly excused myself and hopped in my car to speed after the dump truck, finally flagging down the driver at a stoplight and convincing him to sell me some of the “scrap” on the back of the truck.

It took almost a year of researching and picking the brains of numerous folks in the jewelry industry before I started to fully understand what I had stumbled across and what it was used for: The pieces I had salvaged from the scrapyard were exquisitely crafted “hubs,” actual size, three-dimensional, hand-engraved carvings of a piece of jewelry executed in tool steel. Much of this work was created in the early 1800’s.

Hugo Kohl working a screw press

From this abrupt introduction to an unknown way of making came a series of ideas about how I could cobble together a sophisticated group of artisans in the perfect space with things I imagined were out there just waiting for me to find. Almost 30 years later, we’re still at it.

The collection started with a few hundred pieces off a dump truck headed to a scrap yard over 30 years ago and has grown to over 7,000 hubs, dies and rolls lovingly shelved in my “hub vault” at present. It’s the largest working collection of its kind in America.

Assortment of hubs from the HUGO KOHL hub vault

Contained within this collection of hand carved steel hubs are the master models for Filigree Rings, Signet Rings, Pins, Pendants, Lavaliers, Earrings, Bracelets, Baby Pins, Cufflinks, Militaria, Watch Cases, Lockets, Religious Medallions, Fantasy Figures and Wedding Bands. There are Georgian, Victorian, Edwardian, Art Nouveau, Art Deco & Retro Art Designs periods represented. The collection is in the form of engraved steel blocks and rolls that represent the art of dimensional hand engraving at it’s zenith. Along the way I started gathering the Industrial Age tools and machinery associated with the hubs. In some cases I was able to gather entire factories. Somewhere along the way I realized I had become a manufacturer myself. Also a designer. And a Museum Curator. There have been numerous manufacturing experiments. Many of them didn’t work, but many of them did. In any case a number of these designs have been put into production and a team of skilled artisans assembled. Hopefully lots more are to follow. It is a huge undertaking that involves combining older technologies with newer techniques as well as my version of how these pieces should be presented.

Selection of period pieces manufactured by Hugo Kohl

Back then, I couldn't help but think about how I needed to intervene in any number of truckloads carting “mini-Michaelangelos” to the scrapyard. I was hooked on the subject, fascinated by the workmanship and determined to find and collect every loved and unloved treasure I could. Looking for hubs led to the discovery of countless other artistic treasures used in the ornament and jewelry design industry. A few hundred hubs led to thousands more hubs, die sets and rolls. These treasures led to screw presses and drop hammers. These led to complete workstations and sometimes complete factories. For over 20 years, I’ve collected, catalogued and assembled whatever I could find that I felt would be useful in building a factory that could bring back into production not just great designs but the great quality of Providence’s die struck jewelry—especially the filigree pieces.

A view of the HUGO KOHL workshop

HUGO KOHL Blog: Where do Antique & Vintage engagement rings come from - September 13, 2012

Thu, 13 Sep 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The Vintage/Antique ring has consistently show itself to be a strong favorite of the Bridal Marketplace. This is for several good reasons: It can be a nostalgic choice where a ring is passed forward through generations; a continuation of tradition. It's also because this genre coupled some of the most pleasing jewelry designs and effective manufacturing techniques. Not only was your grandmothers ring beautiful, grandmothers ring was tough, durable and stood the test of time!

Here are two of the filigree ring models manufactured by HUGO KOHL.

These are the hubs from HUGO KOHL's vault used to create the die sets for the above rings.

Here is a selection of the fancy wedding bands manufactured by HUGO KOHL.

These decorative engagement rings and fancy wedding bands that I'm talking about are from a period between the mid 1800's to 1940's and they are "die-struck". For those of you who don't understand "die Struck" think: irresistible force meets immovable object with a sheet of gold in between...somethings got to give, and its the gold.

It all starts with a hand engraved master model in steel called a "hub", or "hob" or my favorite term in Italian, "La Creatoria". This block of steel is carved with small hardened chisels called gravers.

In this image is shown a hub and the gravers used to carve the main body of a filigree ring called a "T" shank in tool steel.

Here is a close up where you can better see the detail of the carving and the tools used to do the work.

After the hub was created, it was tempered to full hardness by heating it in a tempering furnace to 450-500 f and than cooling at a prescribed rate depending on the steel. After the carving was hardened it was placed against another un-hardened block of steel in a 500-600 ton press and forced into it so that the "hub" created a "die" in the softer steel. The Hub is stored away in a vault for protection and possible future use and the die is used to create the forcer (a copy of the hub) and on and on until you have a complete die set consisting of blanking, trimming & piercing dies.

Sheets of gold, sandwiched in between die and forcer in a press are stamped into elements and parts that are solders together to make a filigree ring. This stamping process actually changes the molecular structure of the metal, transforming the metal into hardest, toughest form. To me, besides the incredible craftsmanship involved in this process, the phenomenal detail and design content coupled with the strength of the stamped gold/silver/platinum make these pieces the most important and desirable jewelry ever made.

Understanding the background behind these great pieces of jewelry is part of enjoying the pieces itself. They were not simple things to make, but represent the zenith of craftsmanship and artistic integrity as it applies to personal adornment. I hope that this short, simplified explanation will help people who care about this period of design better enjoy the pieces they own.

HUGO KOHL Blog: Vintage Engagement Rings, Vintage Wedding Bands, and Bridal Jewelry - August 9, 2012

Thu, 09 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Bridal business makes up approximately 60% of jewelry sales and so if you cant find a way to be relevant in this part of the jewelry marketplace, well, bye bye.

a sample of vintage engagement rings by Hugo Kohl

The first part is the engagement ring (and by the way, I'm not De Beers and so it's cool by me if it's not a diamond ring) and for those who are looking for vintage designs, Hugo Kohl offers a very broad and deep selection of vintage filigree ring settings.

Here is a selection of heavily engraved wedding bands in various metals including karated golds, platinum and sterling silver. Note the curved bands on the right side that are designed to fit against a filigree engagement ring.

Of course, the next part of this is the wedding band. There is no reason this needs to be a plain, boring choice. In fact, the wedding band can be every bit as decorative as the engagement ring. At Hugo Kohl, we manufacture a very wide variety of vintage wedding bands that compliment our vintage filigree engagement rings as they are made using the original tools from the same periods as the designs.

Wait, there's more. Brides and bridesmaids need to be properly accessorized. It's a good thing we have you covered on that. We offer earrings, whimsy rings & bracelets; all in vintage designs that are period accurate, well crafted and available in all precious metals and a full compliment of gemstones.

Hugo Kohl makes a wide variety of vintage filigree earrings.

These whimsy rings are made using some designs intended to be cufflinks. By simply adding a fancy shank a new genre of vintage ring is born.

Sterling silver die rolled bracelets in these fabulous vintage design are perfect accessories and bridesmaid gifts.

HUGO KOHL Blog: Genius in Providence - July 23, 2012

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMT

I've been a bench jeweler since 1986 and have trained under some of the best in the business. On occasion I can get a little swagger in my step when expounding on my skills. Recently, I got humbled! Schooled! I was shown tools and techniques that made my jaw drop when I sat next to Mr. Richard Hegeman, a true master of his craft.

Richard Hegeman (L) Hugo Kohl (R) talk about the challenge of removing, re-polishing and re setting the stone in an important antique ring.

Mr Hegeman has a lovely workshop and retail store located on historic #361 south main street in down town Providence, RI. A few weeks ago he was very generous in giving me a tour of his tools and a demonstration of how he facets and carves gemstones. Mr Hegeman can tackle one of the hardest jobs that can come across anyone's bench: removing an important gemstone that has been scuffed and abraded from long years of wear, re-polishing the facets and returning the gemstone to the mounting in seamless fashion. Brilliant!

Mr Hegeman is demonstrating the work bench and tools used to carve a monogram or crest into a gemstone.

Richard Hegeman (R) explains tools and methods used to carve crests, figures and seals into a gemstone.

Here he is demonstrating how the facets on an old gemstone are re polished. Note the Brazilian rose wood dopping stick cut to a very specific length that holds the gem and is "pegged" into the indexing wheel whose holes that accept the stick are indexed to a specifics degree of cut. This is work for only the most experienced and well trained craftsman.

Richard Hegeman shown the technique of re-polishing and old abraded gemstone to be re set in a refurbished mounting.

This indexing wheel was fashioned out of an old bowling pin. Brilliant!

One of the most enjoyable and rewarding parts of my work is getting to meet important craftsman like Mr. Hegeman in their workshops with tools in their hands. listening to him talk about his work, how he came to choose this path and to see the reverence he has for doing the very best work is a satisfying experience.

HUGO KOHL Blog: Spinning with Paul Wiley - July 11, 2012

Wed, 11 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMT

No doubt, I have one of the coolest jobs in the world. Besides getting to play with all these great tools, diamonds, gemstones, gold, platinum and on and on...I get to work with some of the most talented craftsman around. A couple of weeks ago I had the privilege of having one of Americas few remaining, but highly skilled metal spinners visit my workshop and give me lessons in metal spinning.

Back-story: Last year I purchased a complete work cell of a metal spinning lathe and the mandrels (forms) and tools from two prominent metal spinning companies. These tools were used to make hollow ware from various metals but most commonly in pewter. After I got these tools home I thought I could read some tutorial pamphlets and watch some youtube videos and get to work. Wrong! Mostly, I just wasted a big pile of very expensive metal.

Stymied, I did what I always do in such circumstances; I found an expert! My search quickly led me to Paul Wiley. Not only had Paul authored a great book on the subject titled "The Art of Metal Spinning: A Step-By-Step Guide to Hand-Spinning", he is recognized as a prominent authority on the subject. Paul also has a very interesting website, Restoration Metal Spinning, where you can see some of his work. Pay special attention to the finials! In any case you can take my word for it, he is The Expert! I called Paul and we arranged for him to visit my workshop and spend a weekend with me sorting out the tools, materials and to teach me to spin. It was brilliant! Paul guided me through the steps and processes and taught me to spin pewter and aluminum circles into a variety of simple and complex shapes.

Did you know? Before the availability of large scale industrial power that metal spinners were an indispensable part of every community, making our pots, pans, hollow ware and storage vessels!

HUGO KOHL Blog: New Filigree Earring designs - June 20, 2012

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMT

No matter how many designs you have in your catalog, new ones are always part and parcel of keeping people coming back and looking. There is no resting on yesterdays work. So, with that train of thought we have three new earring designs to share.

ER044

ER045

ER046

As usual, these earrings come with spring loaded leverbacks.

HUGO KOHL Blog: Engagement Ring Settings - June 4, 2012

Mon, 04 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The very first rings I made after I started trying to convert these incredible hubs into working tools were engagement ring settings. I have to say, that it was a big moment for me both personally and professionally when I was able to take a hub from an "O"shank

or, from a "T" shank

and fabricate parts that I could turn into engagements rings.

Engagement ring settings; I'm loaded with them. What started as a tentative experiment notable for the long list of failed attempts, finally became a series of individual successes. One ring became two, two became hundreds. As far as I know, I manufacture more filigree engagement ring setting designs than any other manufacturer. The best part of this is that I've only converted a small percentage of the hubs into working engagement ring settings. At the rate I'm going I'd say there are at least 10 more careers worth of work to do. Hows that for job security?!

Here is a bit of nostalgia, one of the very first adds I ever placed in a jewelry magazine. I was trying to make it look like I had zillions of designs.

HUGO KOHL Blog: My First photoshoot with a model - May 30, 2012

Wed, 30 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Last year I was on a long bike ride out in the county with friends. (In case you didn't know it, Harrisonburg and Rockingham County are known far and wide as the cycling capital of Virginia.) On a long stretch of winding secondary road we passed a woman walking her dogs.

This was coincidentally at a time when I was starting to think about changing my presence on the web with the goal of attracting retail sales. Hence, we needed to have a slicker, more fashion oriented look on the site. One of my friends on the ride who I had shared this idea with exclaimed that this woman had the look I wanted. A couple of months passed and we saw her again, on the same road. On a whim, I stopped, introduced myself and asked her if she might consider being photographed wearing my jewelry. To my surprise she agreed. A couple of meetings later I was able to secure a photographer I had worked with in the past, A director whose work I had already admired and a couple of killer locations.

Credits:

Photography by: Mike Miriello and Katie Landis

Directed by: Caitlin White Model: Lindsay Borec

Outfits provided by: Duo

Pretty cool!

HUGO KOHL Blog: Defining Vintage Jewelry - May 17, 2012

Thu, 17 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

I love going on and on and on about vintage jewelry. I am “Vintage Jewelry.” I want to show them my hubs, dies and rolls. I have to admit, showing them off is one of my favorite things. I love an audience that can appreciate the magnificence of this collection. Here is a little taste of almost 4,000 pieces:

The technical definition of “Vintage” means "pertaining to a certain era, style or area." It is a term well-crafted for describing jewelry that is stylistically reminiscent. As stated earlier when I wrote about the term “Antique Engagement Ring,” these periods are relevant as they define styles associated with a timeline of what we generally think of as “vintage jewelry.”

Georgian 1714-1830
Victorian 1837-1901
Edwardian 1901-1910
Art Nouveau 1880s-1910
Art Deco 1918-1938
retro Art 1938-1948

The point being is that something does not need to have been manufactured in a certain period to be of that style. We have different rules here than we have with the term “antique.” Forget the 100-year rule. Forget provenance. Forget technicians poring over a piece with a loupe looking for proper tool marks and materials. All we need here is the correct look. And this is what makes finding, collecting and preserving these hubs so much fun. I have a library of jewelry designs that is incomparable.

Here is a small sample of Signet ring hubs. Keep in mind that each of these blocks of steel have been carved by hand…probably between (just guessing here) 1880-1940.

All of them, when brand new were works of art that were at once, “vintage”. You can look at these signets and see Art Nouveau, Art Deco, Retro Art, Victorian, etc, etc. (Check with your local art history professor for tips how you can tell the difference between styles.)

So, pick a style that suits how you feel, a place in time you are simpatico with, a look you can identify with and, chances are, you can find a hub, die or roll that has the design content you are seeking.

However, since the original request was Vintage Engagement Ring, I have to include this:

HUGO KOHL Blog: Define….”antique engagement ring” - April 26, 2012

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Let's start with some vocabulary. The term “antique” means different things depending on how it's applied. When used with jewelry, it describes a piece older than 100 years. So, grandma's ring might or might not be antique. Great grandma's probably is. It’s worth noting that unless grandma or great grandma were from a wealthy (very wealthy) family, they would not have been able to afford a piece of jewelry were it not for the technological development of die striking jewelry. Before that, all jewelry was a one off creation made by hand and only available to the wealthy.

To give some perspective on this from a design point of view, it’s a good idea to define some terms as they apply to jewelry design with respect to eras of design as they apply to the periods of jewelry I deal in and what we have come to visualize when we think of the antique engagement ring (i.e. what I have the remaining the tool and dies for!)

A little bit of history in this is that die striking, as it relates to mass produced jewelry, begins and ends with these periods. Can you say “rare”? What was stamped is what was stamped. There is no more…most of the tools used to make these pieces were destroyed and sold for scrap as manufacturers converted to more modern (less expensive) casting technology.

1. Georgian 1714-1830

2. Victorian 1837-1901

3. Edwardian 1901-1910

4. Art Nouveau 1880s-1910

5. Art Deco 1918-1938

6. Retro Art 1938-1948

So, not everything that is often described as antique…is. And that leads us to a couple of other relevant terms.

1. Vintage…pertaining to a certain time period

2. Estate…previously owned

“Engagement Ring” is less convoluted, but no less an interesting term. The engagement ring is what you offer your beloved with a proposal of marriage; and what she accepts as to agree to the proposal. It’s the vehicle of a formal agreement to a future marriage. It's part of a contract! It’s worth noting that if the person who offers the ring as part of the proposal breaks the contract, they have no claim on the ring. If the person who accepted the ring with the offer of matrimony later decided not to marry, they are obligated to return the ring…basic contract stuff.

I think that we are all affected by a nostalgic sense that bygone eras were more virtuous. Many of us are also the beneficiary of a parent's or grandparent's ring that comes not only with the nostalgia of the past, but also with the continuity of a family keepsake passed down through the generations. From my perspective, the pieces of jewelry created using the die striking technology that allowed the masses to begin to own jewelry made some of the most beautiful and long-lasting pieces ever made…which allows the term “antique engagement ring” to even be part of our vocabulary. Without this incredible technology that stamped the metal, thereby hardening it enough so it would last as long as it did, and creating a process that would allow both highly decorative pieces and mass production, there would be no “antique engagement ring” as we know it.

Check out all our rings.

HUGO KOHL Blog: No coincidences… - April 18, 2012

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The person (the lovely and brilliant Karen) who keeps me on track with my social media campaign started a "sweepstakes" where we give away a ring every week with that months birthstone. Being April, the featured stone is a diamond...and so I made 4 rings, each set with a small diamond. The very 1st winner of this sweepstake contest was a very nice person, Susan, who sent me this great letter that reminds me of my notion that there are no coincidences between people in this world.

"Hello Hugo,

It is wonderful to hear from you. I can't tell you how excited I am to have won this ring, and especially on what would have been my mother's birthday. I really do feel like this is a sign from her, and I will treasure the ring that much more as a result. I'm a size 4.5 -- thank you so much for offering to size it for me.

I have loved your work since my jeweler, Chris Little, first introduced me to it several years ago. We were designing a ring for a loose diamond my husband had purchased for me, and I was drawn over and over to the Chris' "estate" case. There was nothing in the case at that time that "spoke" to me, but I fell in love with the vintage look and knew that was what I had to have. That's when Chris brought out a small catalog he had of your work. We settled on a filigree setting that was meant for a stone much larger than mine, but Chris was able to add an enhancer behind my diamond and it worked beautifully. He set 18 additional small diamonds throughout the filigree work and the ring is just beautiful. I get so many compliments on it. I later had Chris set an 8 x 10 amethyst into another of your settings and it, too, is beautiful. I'm excited to add this new ring to my collection of your work, and I've added one of your bracelets to my "wish list" for Christmas!

It's been wonderful to read your blog and view some of your videos on your website and Facebook page. I knew that you worked from original hubs and dies from the 1800s, but learning about how passionate you are about your work and the beauty of vintage jewelry just makes me value my pieces that much more.

Thank you again. I have told all of my friends about your Facebook page and I know several of them have entered the drawing for this week's ring. Your fan-base is certainly growing and hopefully they will turn into lifelong customers as well.

Best,

Susan

This sweepstake is sort of self serving in that it's part of a campaign to build a customer base as I change my model from strictly B to B to also go B to C. Yet, with no planning or design I managed to get this very gracious person a lovely keepsake that is symbolically important to her. I'm not quit certain who got the most enjoyment out of this, her or me?! How cool is that??? Very!

~ This sweepstake has concluded ~

HUGO KOHL Blog: “Why to buy from Hugo Kohl instead of at the mall, department store etc.” - April 12, 2012

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT

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.

HUGO KOHL Blog: Solar Shower & The "Single Girl" Bracelet - April 10, 2012

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Before people start thinking that all I ever think about or do is make jewelry, here is an image of the solar powered shower I assembled in my back yard yesterday evening. Its made from a 4"x10' piece of black PVC ( black so it gets hot in the sun) tilted at an angle (if I'm using the sun, I might as well use gravity) with the high side open for filling with a hose and the low side reduced and fitted to a giant shower head. Now, I can get home after a long bike ride and rinse off in my back yard oasis. Behind the tree, of course, for modesty's sake. Ha!

So, when I am making jewelry, here is a new project I've been working on for a while and is finally coming together. Pun intended!

Problem: Bracelet clasps need two hands to fasten. They also add significant cost to the assembly and generally break up the look of the bracelet.

Constraints: The solution has to look good, be easy to use, hold tight and be cost effective.

Answer: NEODYMIUM MAGNETS!

Here is a new piece I recently finished. You can see from the loops at either end it was intended to be a bracelet/chain link.

Since I was stymied about how to deal with the clasp, the first thing I did with this piece is bend it and add a shank and turn it into a ring model# CB020

Still, it begs to be a bracelet. Here you can see how I fabricated a finding to each half of a split link to hold a round neodymium disk magnet.

And here is the finished result:

All you have to do is get the two ends close to each other and the magnets do the rest!

Stay tuned to see this and three other link designs in the new category

"Single Girl Bracelets" because she doesn't need your help.

HUGO KOHL Blog: Adventures in Jewelry Cleaning - March 14, 2012

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT

For every person who walks into my shop and asks me to clean and check their jewelry (something we sometimes can do for free)...it seems like there is another who asks me to "fix" the mess they made when they tried to do it themselves.

There are six different metals represented in this wedding band assortment. The cleaning/polishing method will vary from piece to piece.

People get every sort of gunk they handle on a daily basis building up on their jewelry...paint, lotion, grease, food etc, etc and for the most part, it does little harm but it does detract from the look and wearing experience. They also abrade the metal and stones by coming in contact with everyday objects...dishes, broom sticks...anything you might hold in your hand. Unfortunately people also use all sorts of poor methods to try to clean and polish it. Toothpaste is for teeth. Ammonia is for bathroom floors. Chlorine is for laundry bleach and swimming pools...etc, etc.

The best way to deal with these things and increase the life and utility of your bling is to have it inspected, cleaned and polished by a pro. In my shop we inspect the piece to see what we have... what metal? what gemstone? any damage? value? Is it plated? has someone glued something in place? what is the nature of any previous repairs??? We than make a decision on what is the best way to clean the piece. A typical cleaning usually means a short soak in a heated ultrasonic with an alkaline solution and a blast of 80psi steam. If the metal is overly scratched up and abraded we might polish it on a buffing wheel with a very fine polishing compound. We also check the item for loose stones, damaged prongs and other signs of damage.

All these rings are 14k gold but because some of the gemstones are fragile the cleaning and polishing methods will be different.

What can go wrong??? So f'n much! Plating will come off when you polish. Loose stones will fall out in a ultrasonic. Karated gold jewelry can become porous after being soaked in ammoniated cleaners. Some gemstones are very delicate and can be easily damaged through polishing or heat or chemicals (emeralds, opals, coral, cameos ) some gems cant take heat without damage (amethyst, some garnets, peridot, tanzanite) .

So, go ahead and take the plunge and start a relationship with your local goldsmith. If you are a person who enjoys owning and wearing fine jewelry, besides having nicer looking pieces that last longer, you might just save some $$$.

HUGO KOHL Blog: I'm back from my London/Paris trip! - March 13, 2012

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT

It’s always great to be getting out of town to go on a vacation, and this past trip was no exception…the

anticipation was exceeded only by the actual experience. In England, I stayed in a charming stone

cottage in a small village that looked like I might expect a knight on

horseback to appear any second.

I walked along the Thames and saw the sights of London

I took the Eurostar to Paris and had coffee and croissant in a cafe on the street

I went to the Janvier studio in Paris by arrangement…which was very cool, because otherwise I never would have gotten into one of the most important decorative arts destinations you never heard of and couldn’t get into anyway.

Where I met Joelle, manager, who let me stick my nose everywhere and gave me a great tour…I was able to look at several hundred thousand of the most incredible stampings ever made.

I had lunch in a fabulous Chinese restaurant

And then, I had to come home

jet-lagged

behind on my work

snowed on

with my mind elsewhere

and then I rallied and made three new

Cigar Band rings

HUGO KOHL Blog: Workshop Tour - February 15, 2012

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

I'm back...and that's something, because getting consistent with this blog is somewhat of a challenging goal.

Last time I promised some images of my workshop...

Here is a shot of my bench where I do my fabrications and set stones:

Here is my current love interest du jour, an old OMBI Milanese Mesh machine. I've been telling people that I'm about two hours away from mesh...but that's been at least 15-20 hours of working at it ago. ...So, I'm still two hours away from mesh.

Next time...some new wedding band designs I'm working on.

HUGO KOHL Blog: February 8, 2012

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

My name is Hugo Kohl. I’m a manufacturing goldsmith and this is my first blog post. Welcome! In this blog, I’ll write about my very exciting adventures in goldsmithing. How exciting could being a goldsmith be, you might ask? Well, when you do it like I do—with scraped knuckles, burned fingers, torches, presses, hammers, dies and a burning passion to make beautiful jewelry—it can be very exciting.

I have a workshop filled with some of the most incredible machinery and tools ever assembled (which I’ll cover in a future post). In this workshop, I make some of the most exciting, and visually stimulating fine jewelry…ever! (It’s not bragging if it’s true.) As credentials to back up my my outlandish claims, here are some images of the things I make:

A selection of very fancy engraved wedding bands in a variety of metals, including white gold, silver, platinum, rose gold, yellow gold and green gold:

Some of the very ornate cuff bracelets we make:

And a small selection of some of the rings I make:

Next time, I’ll take you on a trip through the work stations where these things get made.

And lest I forget…

I have a very mischievous shop dog named Coco. (We’re still working on her manners.)