Bench Fusion Speakers – August 2024 | Atlanta Jewelry Show

BENCH🔥FUSION SPEAKERS

Jason Chandler

Founder and Instructor, Portland Jewelry Academy

Jason Chandler has been immersed in jewelry manufacturing since 1994, establishing himself as a highly valuable and reliable bench jeweler. Since 2018, Jason has been doing live demonstrations for Stuller’s Bench Jeweler Workshop and is featured in several of Stuller’s From the Bench articles. In addition to instructing, Jason continues his work as a bench jeweler at Portland Jewelry Artisans, a trade shop he owns with his wife, Ane Chandler. In 2014, Jason founded Portland Jewelry Academy, where he initially taught Introduction to Jewelry Manufacturing. Over time, he expanded the curriculum to include CAD instruction, advanced skills courses, and a week-long platinum practical. Jason is passionate about comparing and combining historical and modern jewelry manufacturing techniques, continually learning and evolving in his craft. With a deep passion for jewelry manufacturing, Jason Chandler creates a unique and close-knit learning community for his students, equipping them with the skills needed to become successful bench jewelers. He is dedicated to supporting the profession and passing on his extensive knowledge to future generations.

Cindy Chandler

Director of Education, Atlanta Jewelry Show

Cindy has an extensive background in buying, sales, retail management, gemology, and jewelry design, Cindy Chandler knows the worlds of fine jewelry and retail inside out. After earning her Graduate Gemologist diploma from the Gemological Institute of America, she became an instructor at GIA. Cindy then worked as group manager, regional training manager, and human resource management roles at Macy’s. That experience sparked a lifelong passion for mentoring and educating retail jewelers. This led her to the American Gem Society, where she served as Deputy Executive Director and added association management to her skill set. As Associate Show Director for the SMART Jewelry Show/SmartWork Media, Cindy continued to empower retailers with her knowledge, experience, and love of the business. Currently, Cindy is working on projects that benefit from her knowledge in retail and association management, sales, gemology, marketing, public relations, and customer service. Contact her if you have a project or job that would benefit from her experience and creativity.

Gary Dawson

Owner, Rhino Jewelry CAD

Gary Dawson is the owner of Gary Dawson Designs. This online custom design operation was once featured as a “Best of the Best” by Instore Magazine, and Rhino Jewelry CAD, a CAD/CAM educational solution for jewelers, offering a course of instruction for Rhinoceros3D. Rhino Jewelry CAD is also a Rhinoceros 3D reseller. Dawson has over 50 years of experience in creating designs that capture the personalities and stories of his customers. He is one of only 3 “Mentor Jewelers” named as such by MJSA. He has delivered seminars and presentations at numerous events, including AGTA GemFair, the Portland Jewelry Symposium, and the Santa Fe Symposium on Jewelry Manufacturing Technology. He was awarded the Jewelry Technology Leader Award at the 34th Santa Fe Jewelry Symposium for his work on “Additive Manufacturing on the Bench and in the Workshop.”

Joel McFadden

Designer & Owner, Joel McFadden Designs

Custom guru Joel McFadden is the owner of Joel McFadden Designs in Chapel Hill, NC. He developed a pricing system for repairs that he will share in his session. He has operated a custom shop for over 30 years and was selected as MJSA's first Mentor Jeweler. His knowledge of the custom jewelry business allowed him to be the first director of the Council of Custom Jewelers.

Danny Hansen

Owner, Crafty Celts

It all started when I joined the SCA, the Society for Creative Anachronism, a group dedicated to the study and recreation of the Middle Ages, and was introduced to Celtic Art. I was intrigued by this unspoken language's intricate perfection and mysterious grammar. But this newly awakened, self-styled Celt needed raiment for his persona in the SCA, and one of the most important items of fashion for a Celt is a suitable cloak brooch. But where to find one? There were none to be had. The obvious solution was to make one, so I took an introductory jewelry-making course, and a new passion was born. I had always been at odds with previous art instructors; fantasy illustration and abstract expressionism had little common ground. Introducing this new craft, where philosophy and meaning took a distant back seat to form and function, was liberating! I soon discovered that I was truly an artisan at heart, and it was a simple transition to start making jewelry for sale. I enjoyed the challenge of making things meant to be functional, perfecting a design through repetition, and trying to make something that someone would want to own. A Vikings Tale! We're well known in the community, but we're probably best known as the creators of the jewelry featured on the TV show Vikings.
It's a fun story: We shipped some products to the costume department, not knowing how big 'Vikings' would get. The next thing we knew, our jewelry was being seen worldwide, and we ended up sitting in the offices of MGM, getting officially licensed!
While we were in Ireland, my son, Kelly and I ended up as extras on one of the episodes!

Josh Helmich

CEO, Helmich Luxury Group

Josh Helmich is a jewelry industry senior professional, a third-generation jewelry entrepreneur, visionary, and consultant. Josh has extensive expertise in strategical, business development, manufacturing, and technology implementation within the global jewelry supply chain. Founded in 2018, The Helmich Luxury Group combines the knowledge and experience Josh has garnered over two-plus decades in the jewelry industry in wholesale and retail jewelry trade, manufacturing, technology, and design. Josh is a highly sought-after consultant in the United States, Asia, UK and Europe. Working with clients such as Anglo American ,Platinum Guild International, and various other luxury jewelry brands across the globe for a variety of projects including manufacturing process technologies, sustainability, metallurgy, supply chain, traceability, and social responsibility within the industry.
Prior to his role in consulting Josh was VP of Susan Helmich Design Inc. from 2003-2008 and VP of Steven Kretchmer Designs from 2008-2018. Josh served on the exhibitor board of the Couture Jewelry Show from 2004-2008 and 2011-2018.

Jordan Mantzke

Founder & Youtuber, Modern Goldsmith

Modern Goldsmith is creating beautiful + sustainable jewelry for people all over the world — by blending traditional goldsmithing techniques with modern tools and materials. Jordan is a goldsmith specializing in custom jewelry, restoration, and videography. His YouTube videos have been viewed over 30 million times and have gained a following of 325K subscribers.

Rob Mitchell

Co-Founder, Precision Artistry

Rob Mitchell co-owns Precision Artistry LLC and administers Engraver.com and Precision Bench. He handles the paper so the creatives can focus on their art.

Tira Mitchell

Founder, Engraver.com

Tira Mitchell founded Engraver.com in 1996, originally focused on her custom engraving work. The site now offers innovative hand engraving tools for jewelers, hand engravers, and stone setters worldwide through her business, Precision Artistry LLC. Tira’s personal engraving can be found at TiraMitchell.com. Her flagship product, the PulseGraver®, is an electric, airless engraving machine known for its compact design and superior functionality. Tira also introduced the Leica A60-F microscope to the engraving industry, establishing it as the standard. She continues to offer high-quality, reliable tools and training to help engravers improve their craft. With nearly 30 years of experience in engraving, teaching, and demonstrating, Tira remains committed to quality, service, and support for her customers. For more information, visit Engraver.com.

Melissa Muir

Owner, Melissa Muir Metalsmith

For more than two decades, Melissa has used her skills as a talented educator to help thousands of people become more knowledgeable about tools, their uses, care, and maintenance. She works with some of the largest names in the industry as she shares her knowledge and love of various metalsmithing techniques and tools, including micro TIG welding and all things jewelry making. Be sure to visit her YouTube Channel (www.YouTube.com/melissamuir), where she has hundreds of videos for even more jewelry education.

Melissa Muir is a Jewelry Artist and Teacher based in Draper, Utah. Join her as she teaches and demonstrates the proper use of tools and various techniques and gives her honest opinion of those used in her art jewelry-making process.

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Kevin Reilly

Senior Vice President, PGI USA

Kevin Reilly is a jewelry industry veteran with over 30 years of experience in brand building, marketing, sales & customer relationship management. In his role at Platinum Guild International USA, he is responsible for developing strategic partnerships with companies at all levels of the supply chain, formulating programs to help them build their platinum jewelry business. He also leads the organization’s education initiatives, including live, virtual, and online sales training for retail sales professionals, technical education for bench jewelers, and, more recently - establishing relationships with academic institutions to add platinum education to their jewelry studies curricula. He began his career in the retail industry as a member of the Macy’s Executive Training Program. Prior to joining PGI, he served as Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Tache USA and as Director of Customer Relations and New Business Development at Lazare Kaplan International. He is a frequent speaker at jewelry industry events with the mission of helping manufacturers and retailers to build a more profitable business with platinum.