About Us

My love for jewelry making and gemstone sourcing came from my dad and one of my sisters. Some of my fondest memories are when we would go as a family to the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show to meet with our favorite vendors or meet new ones and take home the favorite gems of the day, international treasures, or a rock or mineral specimen to add to our collections.

When my dad retired as an electrical engineer, he started working with different rocks and gemstones. He acquired a rock tumbler and the needed tools and started creating beautiful handcrafted pendants, bolo ties and rings. One of my dad's first masterpiece's was a gorgeous Arizona fire agate ring - it was captivating how the sunlight would catch the agate and looked like it was glowing or on fire. Growing up in Arizona, I was already a rockhound spending my weekends exploring deserted old mine tailings for treasures, but to see how my dad turned this unremarkable rough rock into a work of art, it was stunning and I was hooked! 

My sister D on the other hand, definitely received most of the design genes in our family and she was a master at doing chainmail (Chainmaille) - this is painstaking hand and tool work connecting metal rings to one another. Her sterling silver and copper chainmail designs were one of a kind, she was a true artist. The few bracelet pieces that she made for me are priceless and I cherish them dearly.

My dad and my sister D left us way too soon and I miss them every day. I know they are together creating beautiful jewelry together.  The photo of the blue heart on this page was in the sky on my sister D's birthday a few years back, my future husband was with me, needless to say I was having a rough day (emotional to say the least) and I look up and there it is - I took a quick picture of it and I know it was D sending her love and approval! From this, I believe that my dad and sister D are smiling down upon their 'lil sis "Bear" and youngest daughter, as I strive to carry on what they had started and ignited in me with my own creations - Jade Bear Gems.