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Our Resident Jeweler: Brian ClarkBrian Clark is one of the finest gold-silversmiths in the nation. He was born in Rhodesia in 1957. His father was an engineer for Lever Brothers and his mother owned a jewelry store, where Brian developed his taste for high-quality jewelry from working part-time while still in school. He decided on a career in creating jewelry and apprenticed himself for 5 years, full-time, in the country’s leading jewelry manufacturing workshops. This apprenticeship was under the often very severe instruction of master Italian goldsmiths from Milan, Italy. Upon completion of his apprenticeship, Brian opened his own jewelry manufacturing store. He worked with precious and semi-precious stones and purchased rough stones such as aquamarine and tourmaline, which he cut to jewelry specifications. During this time he employed two understudies for faceting these stones. In 1975, Rhodesia erupted in a civil war and Brian was drafted into the Army, where he served in a combat environment for nearly 5 years. In 1981 Brian and his family immigrated to the US. He and his Scottish wife, Lynn, have two children. Brian worked in Las Vegas for a commercial jewelry outlet and shortly founded Designer Jewels and Gems. Here he designed and created pieces for other stores as well as his own customer sales. It was during this period that another jewelry expert, Duane Cook, introduced Brian to Lee and the late Arvid Anderson. Brian and Arvid quickly formed a team that developed into a strong brotherhood that was able to accomplish what many came to call impossible tasks related to creating, repairing, and modifying any type of jewelry. The lure of the ocean was born into Brian and has never left. He had a boat on Lake Mead but that lacked the challenge and satisfaction he craved. Hence, in 1992, he moved to Sarasota, Florida, and opened Gallery Southwest. The needs of Americana Indian Shows for a superb, in-residence jeweler grew with the market. In order for this to work, Brian gave up Gallery Southwest and joined forces with us for over 80 percent of our shows nationwide. Lynn, his wife, taking advantage of the time Brian is away, has just received her BA degree. Since Arvid’s death in 2001, Brian’s work load has increased immeasurably. The two of them were great friends and great jewelers. Brian has done a superb job of accepting the extra load and Arvid would be well satisfied with his friend’s acceptance and execution of these responsibilities.
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