On a superb day, an angler may catch an elusive trout and the equally elusive second when sunshine makes a favourite stream sparkle like 1,000,000 spilled gems. For Nashville high quality jewellery designer and craftsman Timothy Stammen, that imagery is much more apt.
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photograph: courtesy of Bezalel
Rising up alongside Midcoast Maine in a household inclined to each creative and outside pursuits, Stammen was such an avid fly fisher that he discovered to tie his personal flies. Relishing that steadiness of intricacy and creativity, he took a highschool jewellery making class even whereas his prowess on the basketball court docket was attracting school scouts. That’s when he came upon about Savannah School of Artwork and Design. “SCAD has one of many prime jewellery packages within the nation and was the one place the place I additionally might play basketball,” he says. “It was good for me.”
After commencement, Stammen landed a coveted trainee place at Tiffany’s. “It was incredible for honing real-world abilities,” he says, “however I used to be engaged on a few of the extra repetitive designs, and I had moments at my bench once I realized I wanted to satisfy my very own artistic urge.”
So after a stint with the famend goldsmith Zolton David in Austin, he relocated to Nashville in 2015 and channeled that urge into not only one enterprise, however two. Bezalel, dwelling to Stammen’s unique items, is known as for the Previous Testomony craftsman appointed by God to Moses to “make creative designs for work in gold, silver, and bronze” and to “reduce and set stones.”
photograph: courtesy of Bezalel
“After I learn that, I assumed, ‘Man, that’s so particular,’” Stammen says. “It has a narrative that I might construct my model on, and I simply favored the title.”
Persevering with the theme to the bespoke items he creates in direct session with purchasers (in particular person or remotely), Home of Awr attracts upon the Hebrew phrase that Stammen interprets as “containing mild from above.”
“After I’m working with customized purchasers, generally they solely need what they’ve seen earlier than. That will make them completely satisfied, however not as completely satisfied as one thing that’s completely their very own piece,” he says. So he poses a collection of questions to assist focus a singular design. “That’s the place the magic is.”
photograph: courtesy of Bezalel
Every Bezalel or Home of Awr ring begins with an in depth sketch or, if wanted, dozens of sketches. From there, Stammen could spend wherever from ten to a few hundred hours at his bench, using precision jewelers’ instruments to solid, fabricate, and solder metallic, and to painstakingly polish and set gem stones. “At that time, there’s nonetheless a component of creative freedom, however each step must be accomplished completely to ensure I don’t chase a mistake all the best way to the tip,” he says. “I’ve numerous management, and the connection between designing and crafting the piece is so necessary to getting the specified outcome.”
photograph: courtesy of Bezalel
For customized purchasers and his personal designs, Stammen is eager on pairing conventional platinum and gold with much less anticipated metals reminiscent of bronze and tinted aluminum. “I could make a narrative a lot extra compelling once I’m allowed to make use of some shade on metals,” he says. “I might describe my type as a recent tackle traditional designs.”
Even with all of the hours required for consultations and bench work, Stammen nonetheless ties his personal flies and wades into the close by Elk or Caney Fork rivers a few occasions a month. “I take pleasure in waking up earlier than the solar, driving to the river with my espresso, and the quiet of being out in God’s creation,” he says. “Fly fishing is totally different each time. The trout normally eat a special fly than the final day out, or they are going to be holding in a special a part of the river. It’s all the time a puzzle that I take pleasure in determining. No matter how passionate I’m about jewellery, fly fishing is nice for clearing my head.”