Jeweller - October 2019

MY BENCH
Gary Thyregod
WORKS AT: Gary
Thyregod Jewellery
AGE: 57
YEARS IN TRADE: 40
TRAINING: Sydney
Technical College, four-year
apprenticeship
FIRST JOB: Henning
Molgaard, 1979
OTHER QUALIFICATIONS:
Certificate IV Training &
Assessment; I have been a parttime
teacher at TAFE for the last
10 years
Favourite gemstone:
Diamond. It’s intriguing and the
more you work with diamonds,
the more you appreciate them
– especially when they have a
colour.
Favourite metal: Platinum,
because it’s so malleable with
a beautiful whiteness, and
doesn’t oxidise!
Favourite tool: Hammer,
because it feels good to use.
Best new tool discovery:
A laser welder! It makes the
impossible repairs possible.
Best part of job: Most of
the work I do is for private
clientele, which includes
one-off designs, remodelling
of old jewellery and repairs, so
it would be when you finally
finish a piece of jewellery, and
you are satisfied, and the client
is extremely satisfied with
the piece. Also, sharing your
knowledge with others.
Best tip to a jeweller:
Experiment as much as you can
with different techniques to
develop your own design.
What frustrates me most
about the industry is… There
is not enough appreciation
for jewellery in this country.
A lot of jewellery retailed here is
imported. We have some of the
world’s most talented jewellers,
who are not recognised
because of lack of exposure
and public awareness. There
needs to be a lot more
promotion done. i