Brinker's Jewelers

Design Challenge

2022

As part of Brinker’s Jewelers 50th Anniversary Celebration, we are introducing a new challenge to highlight and showcase the talent of our Master Jewelers. 

We asked our jewelers to create a piece as unique as each of their personalities. They were able to pick all of their raw materials, except for their gemstone(s). To enhance their creativity and add an extra layer to the challenge, the jewelers picked their gemstones completely blind. Each piece represents a different approach and technique to jewelry making. This challenge was designed for the jewelers to showcase their talents and let their creativity flow.

Stop by our Evansville location to try on your favorite piece, all available for purchase. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of each piece will be donated to the charity of the jeweler’s choice. 

Chaos's Beauty

#1

I designed this piece to represent the Beauty in Chaos. This piece was designed after the ocean. We love to watch the ocean, to see and hear the waves crash one after another, but each different. We also know the larger the waves the more struggle to stay in it. The ocean has a lot of pull and chaos going on in it. The waves can pull you down, toss you around, and even kill you… but we love to watch it. We live in a world that has so much chaos in it but it still has such beauty to be seen. We love looking at it and being part of it despite all of the chaos that is in it.

A portion of the proceeds from this piece will go towards Child Find of America.

Rhythm

#2

The completed piece was based off of music & harmony. Movement through the piece.

A portion of the proceeds of this piece will go towards 911 Gives Hope.

Immortalizing the Rain

#3

For this piece I was given Blue Sapphire and Sky Blue Topaz. For me the paring of the two made me think of water, so I wanted it to look as if the metal was flowing around and dripping from the stones, to emphasize their beauty. My favorite metal to work with is gold. I like mixing different colors of gold together into a single piece, because I find it gives it more contrast, as well as allows it to go with more things. Growing up, art had always been a huge part of my life, and what is jewelry if not miniature sculptures on your body. I like to keep a sense of uniqueness to my pieces, by mixing organic and geometric shapes, as well as different stone setting techniques to create pieces with their own personality with a hint of edge.

A portion of the proceeds of this piece will go towards Children’s Tumor Foundation.

First of Infinity

#4

My piece is about letting the stones speak for themselves and the shapes work together. Both stones are an Asscher cut and the geometry of the stones sparked the idea. I tried to keep it minimalistic and simple in style to show the stone’s quality.

A portion of the proceeds of this piece will go towards Gamers Outreach Foundation.

Her Constellation

#5

For my custom design piece, I decided to make a pair of matching morganite earrings. I wanted to create something I haven’t seen out in the showcase before, and that’s why I’ve designed it the way that I have with unique flowing curves. The color saturation on these particular morganite stones land on the fainter side of pink. I chose to set the stones in rose bezels so it would really complement the pink inside of the morganite. I accented the morganites with bezel set diamonds to add some intense sparkle. At first, I wasn’t sure where to start. As I was sketching, I knew I wanted the piece to have some sort of flow, so I started with a swooping “S” curve, I added diamonds to different points on the curves, then I put the morganite in the center. This is my finished product and I hope you enjoy it. It was a lot of fun and challenging to make.

A portion of the proceeds of this piece will go towards Potter’s Wheel.

Second Chance

#6

I enjoy abstract pieces and the color purple. When I was presented a purple stone, it was right up my ally. I enjoy making one-of-a-kind, non-cookie cutter pieces.

A portion of the proceeds of this piece will go towards Owensboro Regional Recovery.

Voting & Results

#1 Chaos's Beauty by David Greene

17%

586/3.3k

#2 Rhythm By Lance Embrey

18%

600/3.3k

#3 Immortalizing The Rain By Brittney Carter

14%

483/3.3k

#4 First of Infinity By Cru Mcdaniel

15%

523/3.3k

#5 Her Constellation By Alan Smith

13%

437/3.3k

#6 Second Chance By Shaun Lewis

20%

672/3.3k

Voting & Results

#1 Chaos's Beauty by David Greene

17%

586/3.3k

#2 Rhythm By Lance Embrey

18%

600/3.3k

#3 Immortalizing The Rain By Brittney Carter

14%

483/3.3k

#4 First of Infinity By Cru Mcdaniel

15%

523/3.3k

#5 Her Constellation By Alan Smith

13%

437/3.3k

#6 Second Chance By Shaun Lewis

20%

672/3.3k

David Greene

Master Jeweler, GIA Graduate Gemologist

Meet David Michael Greene. Growing up, David learned a lot from his grandfather who is a jeweler in Rockport, Indiana. At the age of eight, David’s grandfather began teaching him how to carve wood which helped his skills of creating jewelry from carving waxes. David would sit and watch him work for hours, and at the age of 13 he gave David his own jewelry bench, a Maelynn Jewelry Bench. 

When David started high school he began to take a jewelry class. During high school he entered a contest at the Evansville Museum for 3 dimensional arts and won first place there, as well as a merit award from the University of Southern Indiana.

At 17 years old, David started working for Brinker’s Jewelers in Evansville, Indiana, where he worked for 27 years. He then moved to Phoenix, Arizona and worked for a wonderful company called Coffin & Trout Jewelers for two years, then moved to Knoxville TN for about a year and worked for another great company, Kimball’s Jewelers. Now, David is back home at Brinker’s. 

Throughout his years, David has taken several classes to further his jewelry knowledge; from basic repair to advanced micro pave setting. He has even had the opportunity to teach classes. “Jewelry has been my life and my love for many years.”

David also loves being in the outdoors, traveling, and seeing new places. He loves photography, which he did professionally for 13 years, and had his own studio. David was voted best photographer in Evansville Living magazine.

Lance Embrey

Master Jeweler, GIA Graduate Diamonds

Lance has been a jeweler for 24 years and joined Brinker’s Jewelers in 2018. He studied art and graphic design in college. Lance loves the art aspect of jewelry and the customer’s reaction to their jewelry piece is the greatest reward. 

Brittney Carter

Jeweler, GIA Applied Jewelry Professional (AJP)

Brittney was first introduced to jewelry making as a teen in high school. She has always loved all things art, and at the time Central High School offered a jewelry class, taught by Miss Dowhie. Ever since taking that class Brittney knew she had found her career and calling in life. 

Brittney has been in the industry for around 8 years so far. She started working for Brinker’s Jewelers as a polisher and did that for around 2 1/2 years before becoming a jeweler. She obtained her Accredited Jewelry Professional Certificate (AJP) from the Gemological  School Institute of America (GIA) and hopes to one day earn her Graduate Gemologist Certificate. Brinker’s Jewelers has made a wonderful career and home for Brittney. 

“It is humbling, and awesome, to be surrounded by so many people with such talent! From the sales staff, to the master jewelers I am privileged to work with and learn from daily, we really have a great team at Brinker’s! Honestly, for me, there is nothing like working at the jewelers bench. There is just something about the challenge of learning how to work with precious metals, learning to control the heat of a torch’s flame, as well as setting diamonds and gemstones that is addicting. Then, taking all of those techniques and creating a piece for someone to give their loved one, that can potentially be shared through generations, is a wonderful feeling.”

Cru McDaniel

Jeweler

Cru started working at Brinker’s Jewelers in 2019 as an engraver. After being exposed to the jewelry aspect, he decided to pursue that avenue. Cru has grown up around Brinker’s Jewelers as his mother, Tish McDaniel has been a long time employee. He is currently taking GIA classes to be a certified Gemologist. 

Alan Smith

Jeweler

Alan’s stepfather, Nate, is a wholesaler who has been selling to Dean and the Brinker’s for quite some time now. Alan went with him to Brinker’s once and that’s when he met Dean. This was all prior to him going to school, New Approach in Arrington, TN. As he went through school, the more he started to love and appreciate jewelry, he felt right at home. Alan says that, “This profession allows me to be precise, accurate, and as neat as I want, which really fits my personality and the way I like to work. I love being able to put my own personality into my work. I can do something different with my process, but still have the same outcome as another jeweler, and that’s exciting to me.” He feels it’s extremely rewarding to see something go from its raw form, metals, stones, etc., to putting a stone in a constructed piece, and that being polished into something beautiful someone will want to wear.

Shaun Lewis

Jeweler, GIA Applied Jewelry Professional (AJP)

Shaun has been a jeweler for 22 years starting at the age of 18. He was influenced by his adopted brother who was a jeweler. Originally from Louisville, KY, he has been in the Tri-state for 2 years. Shaun came to Brinker’s through a recommendation in October 2021. When he is not working, he spends his time volunteering at Owensboro Regional Recovery.

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