GOLD STANDARD
For Jake Fox, excellence is more than a standard—it is a way of life. It extends beyond craftsmanship, shaping the way he conducts business, treats people, and approaches every detail of his work. “Excellence is a lifestyle,” he says. “It’s a commitment to doing things properly, to going above and beyond. It means treating each client the way I’d want to be treated if I were in their shoes. Skill comes from experience, but excellence requires empathy.”
That commitment is woven into the fabric of his values. He references Ephesians 2:10, which states, We were created for good works “that we would walk in them.” In Greek, the word peripateó means to walk in complete circles, suggesting continual action. “A better translation,” Jake explains, “would be that we are to make good works our lifestyle.” He views excellence as a discipline—an ongoing pursuit rather than a single accomplishment.
Raised in a home that emphasized accountability, he learned early effort held greater value than participation. “We were an ‘if it isn’t bleeding, you’re fine’ kind of family. No trophies for showing up,” he says. “I always knew not every drawing was worthy of the refrigerator door.”
That same philosophy shaped his craftsmanship. “If I’m going to ask for someone’s hard-earned money, I have to give them something worthy in return,” he says. “I’m not satisfied unless I can look a client in the eyes and honestly say that what I’ve made meets the same standard I’d want for my own family.”
From a young age, Jake was drawn to structure and design, teaching himself computer-aided design (CAD) to experiment with floor plans and digital walkthroughs. When the first CAD software for jewelry emerged in the early ‘90s, his father saw its potential but had no one to implement it. At thirteen, Jake volunteered.
“My job became learning the ins and outs of this program, as well as how jewelry is made,” he says.
One Christmas, the store was overwhelmed with customers, and he stepped in to assist. By seventeen, he was leading in sales, balancing his role with a full college schedule and long-distance courses with the Gemological Institute of America. When his department head later offered to write him a letter of recommendation for a master’s program at a prestigious Ivy League, he turned it down without hesitation. “I just laughed and said, ‘No, ma’am. I’m going to work.’”
Jewelry, like architecture, is about balance. “A Greek temple’s pillars hold up the roof, but we don’t see them as just support beams—we see them as art,” he says. “Jewelry should work the same way. The prongs that hold a stone in place aren’t merely functional. When cut and polished correctly, they become part of the beauty.”
Excellence is an uncompromising commitment to precision and integrity for Jake. “The golden rule may not be inherently secular, but I believe it can and should still inform the way we do our work,” he says.
“Excellence means treating each individual project as if it were my own.” That means taking the time to do things right, even when no one is watching. “Most jewelers can set a stone and make sure it’s tight, or clean up a piece enough that it shines,” he says. “Very few take the time to make it truly special.”
Jewelry, after all, is deeply personal. He takes that responsibility seriously. “There’s something sacred about helping someone tell their story,” he says. He has worked with fragile heirloom stones, sometimes damaged, knowing that one wrong move could erase a family’s history. “One slip, and it breaks in half,” he says, recalling a particularly delicate $30,000 Colombian emerald. “There was definitely an audible sigh of relief when that one left the shop.”
When he’s not at the workbench, Jake finds inspiration at the dinner table. “Cooking is where I get to be fully creative,” he says. “I never follow recipes—I go by sight, smell, feel, taste.” But beyond the process, he values the connection that meals create.
“Try to tell the story of Hemingway and Eliot without La Rotonde; or Voltaire and Rousseau without Café Procope. Even Christ’s ministry was centered around meals,” he says. “He began at a wedding party, fed the multitudes, and shared Passover with His disciples.”
For Jake Fox, jewelry is a medium, but excellence is the message. It’s in the details, the relationships, and the unwavering commitment to doing things right. It’s the gold standard.
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