Local Reno jeweler Nicole King, 37, of the brand on Instagram called @AdornmentbyNicole, has been making jewelry for over 15+ years. King is originally from the Bay area, having moved to Tahoe in her 20s where she first began learning about making jewelry at the store Beads Etc.. For the last 10 years, King has seen Reno culture, local business and the arts change. With her initial impressions in casino culture and the show “Reno 911”, she has since found a meaningful community.
In terms of jewelry making, King is mostly self-taught in the tools of her trade, continuously building on her skills as she designs custom pieces for her clients. The pandemic has changed the business as well, though she hasn’t been able to attend any gem shows, King has decided to dive in and dedicate herself full time to her business in the last year. King and her husband both work full time on their respective businesses, her husband’s business being Tahoe Trail Bar, while raising two young children. Although the pandemic has given King some anxiety about their family’s financial security, she feels grateful to be able to support her family and stays determined to make the most of the time at home to continue building her business.
Nicole King has three tables in her home studio with this one being where she does much of the shaping and shaving of different pieces. King shapes pieces with pliers and other tools as well as shaves them with a jeweler’s saw. Towards the back of her desk, King has stone setting burs (the tools with balls on top) that she can use to hammer metal into domed shapes.
King uses a jeweler’s saw to shave a piece of metal to be used for the backing on a gem. The metal shavings fall below into the bottom drawer where she collects them for future use. King also has a multitude of tools used for engraving kept on top of this desk.
On the wall of one of three stations King works at in her home studio, she keeps a vast collection of beads. At this desk King often works on her computer to communicate with clients on custom pieces. King has been collecting beads since her days working in the Tahoe bead shop Beads Etc.
King keeps an area for welding where she solders metal pieces to create rings and earrings with the use of a blowtorch. King uses melted silver solder to join together metal pieces, cleaning off any excess on the soldering iron pen onto the block next to her.
King’s main area for welding has a pickling pot that she uses to clean pieces of excess solder. King began making jewelry with bead and wire, later expanding her skills into finer jewelry techniques and metal smithing.