Visiting Los Angeles

Jewelry Discussion
1

I will be there only a few days in mid-February, and would
appreciate suggestions about what not to miss. Thanks,

Dian

2

Dian, I have lived in L.A. for 30+ years, and know a lot about L.A.
and Southern California. What, in particular, are you interested in
seeing? My showroom is in the Jewelry district of Downtown L.A., and,
if you come to visit here, I’ll give you a quick overview of the
district and suppliers.(if that interests you.) In terms of museums,
gem exhibits, art sites, touristy things, I’ll be glad to help. Where
are you staying? (what part of town?) Will you have a car? (It’s
VERY hard to ‘do’ LA without one.) David Barzilay, Lord of the Rings,
607 S Hill St #850, L.A., 90014, 213-488-9157

3

Hi Dian, For jewelry, be sure to check out Sculpture to Wear at
Bergamot Station in Santa Monica, Del Mano in Brentwood on San
Vicente, Freehand in Los Angeles near the Beverly Center and, if
you’re in Pasadena, Sixty East in Old Town. Del Mano and Freehand
also have other fine craft items. I’m in LA and you’re welcome to
contact me off list for more details and suggestions, though I myself
will be out of town for about a week in early February.

Beth

4

Dear Beth,

Your suggestions are exactly what I was hoping for. I have just
changed my reservations to give me 3 extra days to follow up those
suggestions, and David Barzilay’s. An Orchid member named Verne
Terwilliger contacted me offline suggesting the Bowers Museum in
Santa Ana. I checked out the URL he sent and the two special
exhibits he suggested do look pretty interesting. One is antique
Chinese objects including jewelry, and the other an exhibit of what
look to be magnificent gems. If you haven’t heard of it, the URL is:

http://www.bowers.org/pages/new_revisions/exhibits_current.asp

Right now my trip is scheduled for 2/10 to 2/19. I’d love to see you
while there, but I have been slow to suggest personal visits because
I am not really a working jeweler. I am learning and my progress is
very slow, probably because I took the whole thing up after
retirement, and have never had the motor skills some people seem born
with. So frankly don’t ever expect to have the kind of skills or
artistic talent the working jewelers on Orchid have. It’s daunting,
but I love trying to learn and do. All my life I’ve been trying to
gain academic knowledge of antique jewelry andn the fabrication
methods employed to produce them. I have a small but interesting
jewelry collection, including some Pre-Columbian and a few very old
Greek and Roman pieces.

Thanks again.

Dian