About Us

The Symposium for the Advancement of Jewelry Manufacturing Technology seeks to continue the learning and sharing environment originally created by Santa Fe Symposium, the "premier educational forum for jewelry manufacturing technology worldwide." But this is not intended to be a simple continuation of SFS, it will be a different event, using different resources and venues!

Testimonials

“There is a conscious mixing of art, practitioners, studio people, as well as hard, pioneering science. When you come to this conference, what you’re seeing is the future."

Charles Lewton-Brain
"As a jewelry manufacturer, it’s amazing to connect with other people and share ideas that help us send out a better product."

Jason Yakubovich -MJJ Brilliant
"The in-person networking is so valuable; it dissolves the gatekeeping to people you'd otherwise have a hard time accessing. At TJS you’ll build personal relationships with high-level individuals that you couldn’t access in any other setting."

Roger Gesswein - Gesswein

Linus Drogs - Board Chair

Since entering the jewelry industry in 1984 at the age of 18, Linus has built a distinguished career spanning more than four decades of craftsmanship, innovation, education, and industry leadership.

In 1987, Linus founded Au Enterprises, establishing a company dedicated to advancing excellence in jewelry manufacturing, technical consulting, and product development. Under his leadership, Au Enterprises has continued to serve the jewelry industry through the present day.

Recognized for deep technical expertise, Linus served as Technical Director and consultant for the Palladium Alliance for six years, helping to advance the adoption and application of

palladium in jewelry manufacturing. This work continued through an additional three years of consulting for Palladium Global Marketing, where they collaborated with manufacturers,

designers, and industry leaders to expand the global understanding and use of palladium in fine jewelry.

Committed to fostering collaboration and education across the industry, Linus co-founded The Jewelry Symposium in 2022. As Board Chair, he continues to guide the organization's mission of bringing together jewelers, manufacturers, suppliers, educators, and researchers to share knowledge, advance technology, and strengthen the future of the jewelry industry.

Today, Linus is recognized as a respected industry leader whose career reflects a lifelong commitment to technical excellence, innovation, and the advancement of jewelry manufacturing

through education and collaboration.

Stewart Grice - Treasurer

My original career choice as a teenager was to join the Royal Air Force, but back in the late 70’s there was no such thing as corrective vision, and if your eyesight wasn’t up to scratch then you were out of luck. I ended up doing research into industrial ceramics for Morgan Crucible and while there applied for a lab tech job at Johnson Matthey in Birmingham, UK. I got the job and the rest is history. I ended up concentrating on precious metals and found I was good at it. Eventually I moved to the United States to work at Hoover & Strong.

Ann Cahoon - Vice Chair

My first exposure to making jewelry was at a class at a community art center in rural New Hampshire as a young teen. I was fascinated by jewelry and thought making it could be fun. Spoiler alert: it was. Pursuing it as a career, however, was not even remotely an option. I was a “smart” kid who was headed for college; a career in a creative field (perish the thought) or the trades were not paths that were open to me. Fast forward to college and the decision to switch gears to a BFA program in metalsmithing and jewelry. Then I trained as a technical bench jeweler. I’ve been hands-on in various roles ever since.

John Berg

John is an artist who has worked in jewelry, ceramics, and sculpture for 50 years. Raised in Harvard, Illinois, he attended Northern Illinois University Arts Program where he was invited to apprentice for his jewelry professor, Lee Peck. In his twenties he won multiple jewelry competitions in Hawaii and was published in Modern Jeweler Magazine. Since then, he has used his skills and talents working for custom jewelers, major luxury brands, and manufacturers. In May 2022 he retired as VP of Manufacturing Excellence for David Yurman. Though pottery, sculpture, and painting now fill his time, he still consults for the jewelry industry. In his studio, John makes ceramic and silver jewelry, pottery, and sculpture.

Chris Corti

Dr. Corti holds a Ph.D. in metallurgy from the University of Surrey (UK) and is the managing director of COReGOLD Technology Consultancy. He has more than 40 years of experience in the precious metals industry. He worked for the World Gold Council from 1994 to 2004 and served as a consultant there until 2009. Chris edited Gold Technology, Gold Bulletin and the series of World Gold Council handbooks/manuals. He is currently a consultant for the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths in London and edits the Goldsmiths’ Company Technical Bulletin. A recipient of the Santa Fe Symposium® Research, Technology, Ambassador and Lifetime Achievement Awards, Dr. Corti presented at the Santa Fe Symposium for 24 years.

Marisol Jiménez González

Marisol holds a Bachelor's Degree in Chemical Engineering and has 15 years of extensive experience in jewelry manufacturing, specializing in plating and casting processes for precious metals. As a consultant and Managing Director of Legor Mexico, she brings comprehensive expertise in quality control, plating line installation, electrogalvanic processes, and metal casting across Mexico and Latin America. Her client-centered approach has established Marisol as a trusted advisor in the jewelry industry, where she helps businesses achieve consistent, high-quality results in metal finishing and product excellence.

Meet Our Board

Past Board Members

Gary Dawson

Gary is owner of Gary Dawson Designs, an online custom design operation that was featured as a “Best of the Best” by Instore Magazine. He also runs Rhino Jewelry CAD, a CAD/CAM educational solution for jewelers, offering a full course of instruction for Rhinoceros3D. Dawson has over 50 years’ experience in creating designs that capture the personalities and stories of his customers. He has been a frequent contributor to MJSA Journal and delivered seminars and presentations at numerous events, including AGTA GemFair, Portland Jewelry Symposium, and the Santa Fe Symposium on Jewelry Manufacturing Technology. Dawson can be reached at gary@garydawsondesigns.com.

Elizabeth (Liz) Brehmer Watts

When I was young, I had an art teacher who taught metalsmithing. As soon as I touched metal and learned how it formed, I was hooked. My love for metals led me to a degree in jewelry that led to a career in jewelry manufacturing and education. I have been fortunate to work in many different facets of the industry from bench to technical education, senior management roles focused on product development, business management and strategic planning. In my 32 years attending the Santa Fe Symposium it provided a wealth of business contacts, knowledge, and friendships that have lasted! I cannot imagine not having the global sharing and connections that come with the new “The Jewelry Symposium”.

Jason Yakubovich

Jim Binnion

Jim Binnion founded James Binnion Metal Arts in 1991 to make mokume gane jewelry, with a focus on wedding jewelry. He developed a modern studio technique for producing mokume gane, a Japanese metalworking technique traditionally used to decorate samurai swords. His research and development led to teaching others. Jim has presented papers at the Santa Fe Symposium, Jewelry Technology Forum, and the Jewellery Materials Congress. He has been published in the proceedings for those conferences along with articles in the MJSA Journal, Platinum Manufacturing Process Volume XI. He wrote a chapter in the book “Mokume Gane: A Comprehensive Study” and wrote the book “Jewelry Metals: A Guide to Working with Common Alloys”.