After working with jewelry since high school, gold smither and Bath Township resident Tom Awrey knows how to repair or craft just about anything a customer brings to him.
“I guess I look at it in terms of Christmases. I have 43 consecutive Christmases on the bench,” said Awrey, who works his own jewelry repair business fixing pieces for stores in the Lansing area. His office is located inside of Eastwood Towne Center’s Hampton Jewelers in Lansing.
Having built his home with his own hands, Awrey said he’s always been a hands-on guy.
“I guess I’m a firm believer in the old saying, ‘If you want something done right, you do it yourself,’” he said. “Very early in life, my father used to refer to me as being very industrious.”
Awrey said repairing the harder pieces of jewelry is like a puzzle, and he enjoys figuring out how to piece it together.
“Nothing is going to be successful unless you figure out the proper game plan,” he said. “I like to organize it in my head before I start.”
One of Awrey’s greatest enjoyments of his job is making or repairing something that seems impossible.
“Many jobs I’ll receive, and people say they’ve been told it can’t be done,” he said. “They’re shocked when I’m confident it can be done.”
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