One of the most exciting things in my life was when I was invited, from among jewelers the world over, to participate in one of the most honored jewelry competitions. Stuller’s “Battle of the Bench Jewelers” is a three day competition where handpicked jewelers go head-to-head before an audience of hundreds of our fellow jewelers. We compete in three disciplines of jewelry design and creation. It includes CAD design, hand fabrication, setting and finishing. Severe time constraints are placed on us and of course the pressure of our peers watching our every move as we compete.

I was overwhelmed just to be invited to compete with such great jewelers. I was, however, ecstatic to win first place in two of the three disciplines, second place in the third and to win the overall “Bench Jeweler” award.