Off Limits

Freshman's Jewelers in Victor, CO - circa 1909

One of the shows I enjoy watching is a show on the Travel Channel called "Off Limits". On last weeks episode the show visited a gold mine in Colorado. My ears perked up when they mentioned the mine was the Cripple Creek/Victor mine in Colorado. As you may know, Freshmans was founded in Cripple Creek in 1895 before the family moved to Salt Lake City in 1928. It was fun to see how with new technologies the mine is once again producing. This video clip shows a 60 lb. gold button being poured, worth about $1.25 million. There was one tidbit in the full episode that I found very interesting. It takes over 200 dump trucks (like the huge ones at Kennecott) full of rock to produce enough ore to make one wedding band!

Cripple Creek/Victor Gold mine - via travelchannel.com

If you want to see the whole episode, it airs on the Travel Channel tonight (OK technically Wed the 25th) at midnight. Check it out, it's pretty cool.

Magic of Magnetic Tumbling

     Freshmans has a unique position in the jewelry industry. We make custom jewelry pieces that we're very proud of, re-do family heirlooms to make them serviceable again, and sell tools and supplies to our collegues, students, and craft minded individuals. It is to that latter group that this will have some meaning.

     We have just gotten in a new line of magnetic tumblers. Magnetic tumblers excel at applying a shiny finish on jewelry. Because the tumbling pins are small, they're especially great at getting down into hard to reach areas. They can put a bright finish on cast crowns, as well as get into hand carved details. All you need to do is drop the pieces in, add some water and special tumbling soap and walk away. About an hour later your pieces are burnished to a shine and most times a light polish is all that's needed afterwards.

     These amazing machines were first made for production houses, large and expensive. We've had one in our shop for over a decade and it's indispensable. Finally, now they are available in a reasonable size, at a reasonable price. Come on in and we'll be glad to show you what they can do.