The Full Story

About

Courtesy of Mark Adwar

Mission

We want to share our knowledge and improve everyone's understanding of precious metals.

If you understand the metal you are working with or the technique, you can make better jewellery.

If you understand the jewellery you are buying or selling, you can make better choices. Everybody wins!

Vision

This site is collaborative and freely available. We aim for all to be easily understood by anyone! You're welcome to use any information you find here, but please credit us.

We speak to industry experts and specialists to helps us give you the simplest, most accurate and detailed explanations as possible.

Courtesy of Chris Manning

Founding

The Santa Fe Symposium, headed by Eddie Bell and sponsored by Rio Grande, was a world-renowned conference for premier jewelry makers. Its remit was clear: to share the latest innovation and research across the jewelry industry: technological, operational and experiential.

At the 34th and final Santa Fe Symposium, many discussions were had as to how the symposium could be continued and developed. Owain, Chris and others decided that a free-to-access and easy-to-understand website could help widen the reach and help all stakeholders benefit from the Symposium,

Founders

Owain Houghton

Owain Houghton is a metallurgist and post-doctoral associate at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

He studied his M.A, M.Sci and PhD at the University of Cambridge. At Cambridge, Owain researched Bulk Metallic Glasses based on precious metals, and works with the Goldsmiths' Company in London to help improve education in the industry.

Chris Corti

Dr Christopher Corti is a specialist and the managing director of COReGOLD Technology Consultancy. He has more than 40 years of experience in the precious metals industry, which includes 15 years at the World Gold Council, editing Gold Technology and Gold Bulletin, and is currently an associate of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths.