It's not only Mark Loren's customers but also his design staff who have come from all over to have a part in creating his nationally acclaimed jewelry designs.Customers bring their dreams and their love and ask Loren and his staff to create jewelry that can hold those in place for generations.
Jewelry designers find their way to his door at Mark Loren Designs Inc. They want to be part of the creativity that continues to bring national and international attention to the work that comes from Loren's design studio.
In January of this year, Loren's fame went up a notch when he was included as one of 39 internationally renowned jewelry designers in the world.
The book is "Masters: Gemstones: Major Works by Leading Jewelers" and it is published by Lark Books, U.S.
While local, national and international celebrities find their way to his shop, it is a humble building and grounds considering the precious gems that pass through its doors.
Located along busy McGregor Boulevard, even the sandwich-board sign, the gravel driveway and a billboard sign may barely catch the first-time visitor's attention.
Loren, his production manager and three designers work in a space that previously housed a repair shop for lawn tractor equipment. Now they take diamonds and rubies and tourmaline and topaz, maybe add in gems from a grandmother's ring or a great aunt's brooch, and turn them into contemporary treasures.
"Jewelry is a way of having a special relationship with customers," Loren said.
People want treasures that hold the emotional bonds they create in their lives. Loren and his designers become part of those special bonds as they work with customers, he said.
Production manager Jim Malone worked in jewelry in New York. He followed Loren's work over the years, noting the international design awards he won and the creativity he showed.
"I came looking for him to see if I could be part of what he is doing."
That was nearly four years ago.
Malone is now the one who keeps the studio's cutting edge technology up and running.
Part of the technology is a laser welder. Another is computer software that can create a three-dimensional drawing of a piece of jewelry. That software can then turn the drawing into instructions for a computer to create a mold to manufacture the piece.
"It allows us greater precision and we can show customers a design without creating a model."
Loren has a staff of 10 in his studio and the sales space in the front of the building.
There is a wide selection of commercially made jewelry for sale in the shop, in addition to one-of-a-kind pieces.
Prices range from $200 to $125,000.
The price for custom made work varies with the amount of labor and materials that go into it.
Loren said many people are surprised to hear that as much as 30 to 40 percent of his business is in jewelry repair.
"It might be something worth $400,000 or something worth $4,000 that belonged to a great, great grandmother,"