Caver Jewelry officially opened in March, and business has been booming since, owner Adam Caver said.
Durango’s other jewelry stores do impressive work, he said – but Caver Jewelry, located at 1053 Main Ave., Suite 102, is unique in that it offers custom engravings of Durango mountain ranges alongside the typical repairs, bridal jewelry and basic pieces.
Some of the ranges Caver has engraved include Hogsback, Engineer Mountain and Perins Peak, allowing customers to keep a little piece of Durango with them at all times.
“There’s a guy who just commissioned me to make a bracelet with the Animas Valley mountains,” Caver said. “I’ve done a bunch of wedding rings where we did mountain ranges on the ring. It’s so cool, getting to put parts of Durango into jewelry now. I’m looking around at all the mountains, like, ‘Oh, I totally want to carve that.’”
Caver, who was born and raised in Durango, has had the Caver Jewelry brand since 2009, but didn’t have a dedicated storefront until March. Before then, he worked out of his garage.
He pursued opening his own shop after reading a January announcement from Jamie King of Jamie’s Fine Jewelry that she would be closing after nearly two decades working in the Durango jewelry scene.
“I was sitting there with my dad, and I was like, ‘maybe I should just do my own thing,’” Caver said. “And the next day, I saw the building where I’m at right now for rent. And I was like, ‘whoa.’ It all just kind of fell into place.”
Caver’s personal connection to Durango and its jewelry scene has informed the shop’s custom pieces, he said.
Growing up in Durango, Caver shopped at Taylor-Raymond Jewelers, and bought pieces from Bill at Jewelry Works for his high school girlfriends. He also remembers admiring the work of Gleb Derujinsky, who owned the jewelry store One of a Kind, formerly on College Drive and Main Avenue, and acted as the Caver family’s jeweler.
“Growing up here has definitely helped,” Caver said. “I know what jewelry is, especially on Main Street.”
The uniqueness of the pieces Caver offers is a strength of the shop – and he attributes much of the creativity to his customers.
“People bring in stuff that I’d never think that I’d be making,” he said. “Half of it (is my) creative side, but the other half is everybody else’s creative side (who come) to me. People (are) bringing me their elk ivory teeth from their elk show, and then I’m making it into rings for their wives.”
Another notable and unique project Caver is currently working on for a local client involves pendants and earrings made out of tiny leather-bound books containing pages from the 1800s.
He said the process of getting the shop up and running and operating it entirely on his own has been hard work, but the steady business he’s seen since opening has been well worth it.
“I’m not really paying myself quite yet, and I’m working six days a week, but I think something’s working for sure, because I’m really busy,” Caver said. “My banker (told me), ‘You get my small-business award of the year for the best startup and most traction of a small-business owner.’”
Caver said he wants Caver Jewelry to be a high-end business, but widely accessible for the community – not a “nose in the air” shop – and hopes it helps bring a little bit of Durango’s outdoor uniqueness and beauty to his customers.
“The shop has helped me be able to create Durango into jewelry,” he said.
epond@durangoherald.com
