Announcement: Introduction of new member: Del Mar Ca.

Hello all,
My name is Shannon Prade G.G.,
I am an employee of "Diamond Boutique" Located in Del Mar California 92014, which is in North San Diego County.
I am a Graduate Gemologist from the Gemological Institute of America(G.I.A) in Carlsbad California, and the Appraisal specialist for the store.
I have been fascinated with engraving since childhood, (Dads old shotgun & Custom knife collection) growing up in TX there are a lot of shotguns .

We have a lot of clients particularly in this area who request intricate and elaborate engraving on all types of pieces mostly jewelry, but quite a few knives as well.
I would love to put my feelers out there to the engravers in this area who would like to be on our call list, so that when we get clients who are looking for this type of skill set to be used on their pieces we have a source to use.
I have been hovering around this forum and engravingforum.com for some time but never felt I had a real reason to post anything as I myself do not engrave, although I am chomping at the bit to learn this as well as gem faceting all in due time and I will pick it up eventually, with three kids under five and the current work load I have zero time to pick these up but i plan to start slow now that I actually have a new house with a garage and a work space of my own.:banana: Heck who knows, if anyone ever needs gemological advice your welcome to pick my brain or if you need an appraisal for a piece I can do that too.
well I will end the introduction here for now and I look forward to meeting up with any locals involved in the engraving trade who might be looking to take on projects as they come in, I have nothing on the block for right now FYI, but it would be nice to have a few ppl to reach out to when that time comes and they do present themselves frequently.

Thank you all and keep up the amazing work. There has been so much fantastic works of art Posted which I drool over, and it's nothing short of inspirational.
I do wish to have my fathers Rolex Submariner engraved soon, if anyone wants to reach out to me about that I'm open, but that's a personal request.

S.P.

Gem faceting is easier and fast learning curve than engraving. There are lessons within driving distance of you http://www.sdmg.org/sdmg-public/classes/#afacet . For the most part everything is "keyed" on the machine.

World wide Phenomenon! I hope so!

@atexascowboy2011

A craft such as this should be available to all, not only for the historical factor but to always give clients options to make a piece timeless, personal and a celebrated heirloom not just another temporary trinket, Too often the jewelry industry is limited and very inundated with cheap die traced machine scratching. I would hesitate to call engraving. Possibly for lack of knowledge or just my own dis-appreciation of cheap non personal chicken scratch in metal for the sake of an add-on to an other wise great piece of jewelry, i'm just saying that I think its a shame and I believe that we as an industry whole (Jewelry) need to get back to our roots and attend to our cottage industry roots and have some pride in work and ownership. so yeah !! I fully plan to take your advise, reach out! find out! put together options for my clients and push to get personal craftsmanship. if its just me then so be it, but just maybe folks will catch on and follow suitlike one line at a time, which is good for all of us really. I'm not just referring to monetary gain, but exposure for the artist, respect for the craft and art that flows from the artisan, of course supporting this with the ability to make a living never hurt anyone:clapping:. It's like my late father's knives passed down to me, I know each artist who engraved them and each artist who made the blade, they tell a story that is to be respected and handled with pride of legacy and admiration of the skill it took to bring it all together, not just a throw away trinket, or the next item to be melted down. I end here.:thinking:
Thanks

thanks for joining and offering info to those needing such. i hope to see some of your work, not only as a facetor of gems, but as an engraver. combining both talents would seemingly make for some truly personalized art. you're a guy that could, once again, "raise the bar" !

Welcome Shannon! I am a few hours north of you in Santa Barbara. I have recently been flush setting diamonds and rubies into my hand engraved rings and so I have a whole new appreciation for the jeweler side of things! I learned a lot on this forum and I am sure you will too. Glad to help out any way I can. ~David