Today we’d like to introduce you to Daniel Schwieterman.
Hi Daniel, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Been around the jewelry industry since I was eight years old. My stepmother owned a small jewelry store in the middle of nowhere Indiana (Portland, IN). I used to spend time up at the shop. My step-brother was the goldsmith so I got to watch him make pieces and he let me play around on the bench a little. Never did I think it would lead to where I am today. In high school, I loved art classes and took all of them I could. They just by chance offered a metalsmithing class and I fell in love with the art but didn’t think I could make money at it. When to college at Ball State University and went into graphic design. Hated every second of it. So I knew they offered metalsmith, so I changed my major and from that point on, I never looked back. After graduating with a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts degree with infuses in metal design and fabrication. Went from there to Revere Academy in San Fransisco to train under Alan Revere. This place was amazing. I learned so much about stone setting, casting, and repair work. This changed the direction of my life. I knew I wanted to be in the jewelry business.
Got a great opportunity to work in Los Angeles right out of school. Great a little store that did full custom and repairs. We did work for many stars of the time. So I got to work on so many exquisite pieces. From there, I moved to Austin with my wife and took a job at a very prestigious store that helped me build a loyal customer base and taught me so much. But with the death of the owner, I had to make a choice. Find a new place to work or to open my own store. This is when Regard Jewelry was came to be. We live for this business and have been making beautiful pieces for the past six years.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It really has not been a smooth road… It has all been a learning process. We had a great client base when we opened but learning advertising and social media took some time. But we have turned both into successes.
One of the biggest struggles we made it through was Covid. With everything shut down and jewelry stores being #1 non-essential business in Austin, it was tough. I have a great crew who believers in hard work. We were able to open a little early due to we switched our store into a mask-making factory. This gave us the opportunity to open earlier than most jewelry stores and brought in so many people for masks. We made the mask for Hvac companies across the US. Hvac companies still need to service homes and with the mask shortage, we were there to help. We had about 1500 masks going out every two weeks. We would cut and put together all the masks in the store and my wife Amy would stay up all night sewing them together and get them ready for shipping.
Regard Jewelry has always tried to turn a negative into a positive. We are here to help people and I love that my crew jumped onboard 100%.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Regard Jewelry?
Regard Jewelry was built on two things, customer service and craftsmanship. What this means in short is – We promise to have top-notch customer service and our craftsmanship, we stand behind 110%. Whether you have a small repair or we are working on a full custom piece, you will get the same service.
What we do different then most stores – We have three bench jewelers on staff and a certified watchmaker. We do all our work right here in our store. This helps to keep the client’s jewelry safe and allows us to keep craftsmanship at its highest standard. When you stop in, you can talk to your jeweler. The person working on your piece and explain what you want done. This gives our staff a better understanding of our client’s needs. No middle man.
Our custom design pieces are done by a state of the art process. We start off with hand sketch and then move on the 3-D computer aided design. This gives the client a perfect rendering of what their ring will look like. We can spin the design and make changes on the fly to make sure the piece is perfect. After approval, our pieces are all 3-D printed into a wax/resin model for the client to see and put on for size. Clients love this part. Once this is approved, we move into casting and setting of the piece. This process takes anywhere from 2-6 weeks. Timeline depends on detail of piece and size.
Watch repair and servicing. Our certified watchmaker worked on all kinds of watches. Rolex servicing is one of his specialties. He is a master craftsman and loves to sit down with the client and go over each watch. He also specializes in all other watch brands. He loves to help clients with watches that others say can’t be fixed. Old pocket watches or vintage mechanical watches he often has to make his own parts for. This gives him an edge over most watch makers today.
We live to refer to ourselves as finders of shinny things. We love the hunt. Some of our clients are very educated on era of jewelry and gemstones. We love when clients want a hard to find piece or rare gemstone. This is what sets us ahead of most stores. We have a vast group of miners, curators and friends that work in estate jewelry and gemstones. This allows us to find pieces easier than most stores. Rare gemstones are our specialty. We love the hunt. Whether it’s a pariaba tourmaline from Brazil or a Kashmir sapphire, were are here for the hunt.
We are not a brand store. When you walk into Regard Jewelry, you will find that 90% of what we have in our cases is made right here in our shop. Only thing we don’t make are or estate pieces. So you truly do get a one off piece each purchase.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
Love the vibe of Austin. Said I would never move to Texas. Boy was I wrong. Came to visit Austin for a week at Thanksgiving and that Jan. 1st, I was living here and loving it. We have a great community of independent jewelers who all work to help each other. Not sure any other city can say that. Also, what is not to love – Amazing music, food and it still seems like a community. Doesn’t give off that huge city feel.
Love – Hate Relationship with the growth of Austin. Going to be amazing or business but the traffic sometimes gets a little out of hand. But it’s just growing pains. This too will pass.
Contact Info:
- Email: Dan@RegardJewelry.com
- Website: www.RegardJewelry.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/regard.custom.jewelry/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/regardjewelry/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/regardjewelry
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/regard-jewelry-austin
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@regard_jewelry
Image Credits
Jewelry made by Regard Jewelry or curated by Regard Jewelry
