Daily Inspiration: Meet Bob and Laura Hargrove

Today we’d like to introduce you to Bob and Laura Hargrove.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Bentons has been a staple in the artistic community of Salado since 1970. Founded by Jim Sim Benton, we specialize in creating fine gold jewelry, oil paintings, and wet-processed black & white film photographs. In 1999, my husband Bob Hargrove came to work for Jim as a summer job for some gas money and that turned into a long-term job through his college years which then became more of an apprenticeship as Jim started to teach Bob not only how to make jewelry but also how to run a business. Bob and I have dated since high school (1999) and got married in 2006 – it was such a joy to watch him grow as a jeweler, but I never got the chance to see the inner workings of the business and really didn’t get to see many of his beautiful designs! I had my own career in biomedical science working in a research lab and teaching part-time at a local university and in 2018 my job was making a big move to Indianapolis. After a lot of discussions and future planning, we decided to buy Bentons from Jim and I was going to come and help out at the shop. I honestly had no idea what I was getting myself into – jewelry/art/entrepreneurship is so far outside my training and comfort zone it was terrifying. But Bob was so patient and helpful. He taught me how the jewelry is created and after 4 years now I am designing and creating alongside him. We had to learn together the business side of things – bookkeeping, marketing, all of that – but it brought us closer together. I love getting to work with him every day and now I get to see every single design he makes! I also run the social media side of our business so taking pictures of our artwork and telling the story behind each piece has been such a fun part of this business for me.

To tell a little bit about our process, most of our jewelry is made through a process called “lost wax casting.” In short, a piece is made with various types of wax through carving, melting, shaping around any stones and then covered in a special plaster in a metal flask. Once the plaster is solidified, the flask is placed in a kiln to melt out (or lose) the wax. What is left is a plaster mold with an empty void the shape of the piece we are creating. The next step is the actual casting process: the flask comes straight out of the kiln at 1000 degrees, placed in a casting machine that is like a large centrifuge. Gold is added to a crucible opposite the flask and is melted down until it is freely molten and once the casting arm is released, centrifugal force sends the molten gold into the empty void in the plaster. Once cooled, the gold is removed from the plaster and we can finish the piece by setting stones, filing, shaping, and polishing. Through this process, the initial wax mold is destroyed so every single piece we create by hand is quite literally a one-of-a-kind, bespoke piece of jewelry for our client.

This business is such a fun one to be a part of because every client who comes in is happy – they are celebrating a birthday, a birth, a new relationship or even an older one, a wedding, an anniversary or any number of happy occasions. It is such a thrill for us to play even a small role in their happiness and celebrations! We hope to continue the legacy of fine craftsmanship and client-oriented service that Jim Benton started here 50+ years ago as we make pieces that are as unique as each client we encounter!

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Switching up my entire career path to join with Bob in the custom jewelry business definitely had its fair share of struggles. Not only was I learning a craft that I was completely oblivious to, but I was also learning how to run a business and work in retail – two other things that were new to me. We had to learn how to work together in this new way and my logistical, science brain had to learn how to mesh with his artistic, free spirit brain. We really are opposites and that honestly works in the best way because we complement each other well. Not to say there weren’t our fair share of growing pains. We have finally found a rhythm that works well for us, and our business is growing which is a great thing!

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
We specialize in custom fine gold jewelry – one-of-a-kind, bespoke pieces of wearable art. Clients come to Bentons because of the style and creativity they can only find here. After 50+ years of being in business, Bentons has now had multi-generational clients which is a great thing to be a part of.

Another aspect of the jewelry business that we specialize in is taking older, heirloom jewelry that the client inherited and it either isn’t their style or maybe it is missing some stones or broken in some other way and recreating that piece into something that they can wear and be happy wearing. It still carries the sentimental value of the original piece but is custom to them. Clients have really enjoyed designing these new pieces with us – it really is a collaboration with them!

So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
Our integrity as jewelers matters to us most. We hear so often that people are worried to drop off their pieces because of horror stories they have heard or have experienced in the past. We strive to make sure every client is comfortable with us, our process, and the piece we design with them before proceeding. We want every aspect of their experience with us to be smooth and enjoyable.

Contact Info:

• Email: bentonsjewelry@gmail.com
• Website: www.bentons.net
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bentonsjewelry/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bentonsjewelry

Image Credits
Scott Wade took pictures of Bob Hargrove (action shots) Other photos were taken by Laura and Bob Hargrove