If you’re in the market for a unique piece of jewelry, Adam Foster Fine Jewelry (9 North Central, 314-771-3390) in Clayton is worth a visit. The owner and independent jeweler Adam Foster began designing jewelry in 2000. Drawn to quality and meticulous European craftsmanship, he travels the world to find inspiration for his collections.
When you enter the store, the dim lighting and workshop-like setup are conducive to creativity. Foster himself will likely greet you. On the wall are concept sketches and pictures of jewelry that may or may not have been cast. “In the store, we make jewelry, but we’ll make all different types of objects,” he explains. “We have a lot of different commissions that aren’t just jewelry, but what we do a lot of is bridal.”
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An interesting dynamic of shopping at Adam Foster Fine Jewelry is the use of three-dimensional printing technology. Foster creates 3-D sketches of jewelry in-house using a computer-aided manufacturing program to give the customer a visual of how their finished piece of jewelry will look, emphasizing the shape, aesthetics, and weight of the object. Then, the digital file can be either printed or milled, and from there it can go through the traditional casting process.
Foster compares this type of printing to building a layer cake. “The entire 3-D file is scanned and subdivided into bread slices basically,” he explains. “Then, what happens is the printer, just like an inkjet printer, builds these sections up over and over, building a 3-D model.”
According to Foster, a common misconception about 3-D printing is that once an object is printed and cast, the jeweler’s work is done. This is especially applicable to the making of rings. “Just after you print the ring and cast it, there’s probably two to three weeks of work left in it,” he says. “Cast it, polish it, set it, and it’s out the door? That is not okay with me, because the nuance of the design is not there.”
The jewelry designer takes pride in his craft and enjoys building lasting personal relationships with his customers, whom he considers his friends. He is selling an experience, he says, not just jewelry. “You don’t have to go to the store and buy the same old thing that everyone has,” adds Foster. “When I see my customers out, I know their names. I stop and talk to them—they’re like friends of mine.”
For more information, visit fosterjewelry.com or his Etsy shop at etsy.com/shop/adamfosterjewelry.
