Ron Brock
About 1957 Blues
The Start of 1957 Blues
In the fall of 2002. My friend Rick Wilson and I were on our way to Red Top Mountain when I decided to do a quick stop near First Creek to do a little searching. Rick was eager to get up to Red Top, so he waited by the car. I ensured him that I would be doing only a quick search and then we would be on our way. We never made it to Red Top Mountain that day.
This find was a blessing, as it had a band of color nearly 2 inches thick. At the time I didn’t have any cutting equipment, so I took my find to a lapidary shop to have it cut.
After that I wanted to continue on to making jewelry and it all started coming together – my good friend Rick had inherited some equipment, silver, and turquoise from his grandfather who owned a jewelry store in Nevada many years ago and had even sold jewelry to Wayne Newton. Having no interest in continuing making jewelry himself, he gifted me an old cabbing machine, tools, silver, and a lot of turquoise. I then bought a small trim saw and that is where my jewelry journey began.
Around this time, eBay started up and I was able to start selling my jewelry there through my username 1957Blues. I found a Gemologist on eBay by the name of Robert Smee who was retiring and posted his collection of minerals on his eBay site. I was lucky enough to score some exceptional materials from him before word caught on and I could no longer afford the prices. I ended up with some really nice Gem Silica, Sugilite, Chrysoprase, Damsonite, turquoise, Montana Agate, Holley Blue Agate and more!
When I found the stone it was an answer to a prayer, I was recovering from chemotherapy, and I had been out of work for a couple years. Finding this was a blessing in the purest form. A phrase I used frequently in our household of six was “We’re having Ellensburg Blue for dinner tonight!”, because it became our soup stone more than once.
After regaining my health, I received a job at Boeing Flight Test and began commuting from Yakima, WA to Seattle, WA for the next three years before eventually moving over to be closer to the job. The Boeing job took precedence and so I had to put my jewelry making on hold for about ten years, other than the occasional pieces for my wife, daughters, and grandkids.
For the last couple years I have been dusting off my jewelry collection and have been actively making new pieces. My hopes are that I will be able to pursue my passion of the craft throughout my upcoming retirement and create a successful handcrafted Jewelry business that can be passed down from generation to generation.
-Ron Brock
