For more than 40 years Gary has crafted jewelry into art, but not the common way. No fabricated pieces. No CAD system to help. The self-proclaimed perfectionist apprenticed under an old-school German goldsmith many years ago who taught him that each intricate component needs an equal amount of attention to produce the highest level of jewelry.
“I start with a piece of sheet metal and bend, shape, file, solder and set the stones,” explains Gary. “I make my own tools and I polish all of the smaller components before setting them. It’s one of the reasons a high quality, hand designed piece stands out from cast pieces.”
The effort it takes to treat each component with such detail is, to say the least, time consuming. After nailing down numerous variables, each piece can take anywhere from three days to three weeks. But the pre-design work is where the real investment is.
“I only source gemstones that are in the top 1% of quality, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find those. It’s tough to give Mother Nature an order. And I listen to my customer, getting into their mind-set and understanding their lifestyle. That’s the only way I can design what they want.”
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With four Spectrum Awards under his belt (three rings and a pendant), whatever he’s doing is working. Letting the stones dictate his design is part of his fluid approach. But he also talks about dreaming of each piece before starting the design work: “When I design in my mind I’m dreaming about the steps it takes to make the piece, so when I sit at the bench I’ve already made it once before.”
Drawing his inspiration from the stones, Gary speaks of a visceral, physical reaction to the high quality ones. And yet, he still thinks about the ruby he passed on so many years ago.
Determined not to miss out again, he’s amassed an impressive collection of non-calibrated sized stones which, he says, are “begging me to make them into something beautiful.” In fact, he has nearly 2000 stones in stock. Depending on customer demand he averages 50-60 pieces per year, most of them commissioned, but all crafted by hand – a skill that runs rich through the Dulac family.
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“My entire ancestry was finish carpenters. It’s basically the same thing, except I use smaller tools and work with precious stones,” says Gary.
With more than 2,000 pieces to his name, Gary has never had a piece returned. In fact, his gem dealers, lapidary connections and other industry colleagues tell him his prices are too low for the level of work put into each piece. But Gary is as much a business man as he is artist, and he knows he has to price within the range of his customer base. He’s always fair, always thorough and always passionate.
