Out of everything you have worked on, do you have a favorite project? What is your most memorable project? Why are these your favorite/most memorable? The first thing that comes to mind are the 901 handpieces. The first one back in 2013/14 got my foot in the door so to speak with Glendo and is how I started doing trade shows for them. The second one is also very memorable to me, and in hindsight interesting to see what came out of it. During the Baselworld show in 2018 one of the managers of GRS who came overseas to work on the show asked me if I was interested in doing the ‘Learn’ project for them. I replied, (with 95% of my focus on the demo I was doing at the moment and not paying much attention to him sipping coffee and talking to me), sure Josh, sounds like fun. And what exactly is it that you want me to do again? After some laughs on his part he explained how it worked and that the finished piece would be featured on their calendar and catalogue, and potentially on other dealers’ catalogues and advertising material as well. We bounced some ideas of each other and thought it cool to do a project on another knob. So I received a blank steel 901 hand-piece and between trade shows, working in Singapore and my normal work, I spent a couple of weeks working on this second handpiece. The only ‘rule’ was it had to have the word LEARN on it, for the rest it was all up to me. The whole project in itself was cool to do but what made it especially memorable to me was how that piece in the end was the catalyst to the 10 day Specialty Pavé class I did the following year in America.
What are your interests outside of jewelry and engraving? I’m an avid reader and can talk and nerd out on books that interest me with others who have similar book tastes for hours. Two titles that pop up from this year that were great reads for me are ‘The Wright Brothers’ by David McCullough (I love a good biography!) and ‘The Psychology of Money’ by Morgan Housel. It’s just unbelievable how much you can learn from a book on a topic that someone else has spent many years researching or a skill they honed for a lifetime, and share it with the world in a way in which you can absorb it in 10,20 or 30 hours, unbelievably cool if you ask me! Another major passion of mine is working out and staying healthy. It is so cool how much you can ‘ask’ of your body if you stay healthy and take care of yourself, both physically and mentally. I enjoy a hard callisthenic workout after a day behind the bench and there is no better start of the day, in my opinion, than hopping on my Rogue Echo-bike after a cold shower for an intense short workout. Related to this I greatly enjoy listening to podcast which cover health related topics, like the ‘Huberman Lab Podcast’ or podcasts that cover business related topics like ‘Impact Theory’ with the occasional mix of ‘The Tim Ferriss Show’ thrown in. Where do you see the future of jewelry and hand engraving? I’ve been only in this field of work for 10 years now. During that decade I have seen many things change but just as much stay the same. Technology develops fast in every industry, including ours. I’m of the opinion that if you do great quality work and can add value that another person (or robot) cannot, you will not need to worry about the future of jewelry making, stone setting and engraving. If you’re a life long learner and don’t stagnate or become obsolete because you stay in your comfort zone all the time, my outlook on the future is very positive. You will have to transition from time to time but overall I see a very bright future for jewelers and artists in our industry. Of course this is only the opinion of a young guy without a crystal ball but it’s what I tell my students and what I believe in myself.
Learn ISSUE NO.08
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