Bainbridge Island’s Gilbert Thomes is more than a jewelry store. It’s a gem store, an antique shop, a craftsman’s studio, for starters.

What sets it apart, though, is its character.

The ambiance, while elegant, is far from imposing. There are no salespersons. Rather, owners Alice Gilbert and Drew Thomes present a neighborly feel, making the shop comfortable and pleasant.

“The shop is presented in a way to bring about feelings of nostalgia and family,” said Taylor Crockett, one of two employees. “You will see photographs of friends and family of Alice and Drew over several years.”

Crockett notes that the feeling transfers into the product. Jewelry isn’t as much of a consumer product at Gilbert Thomes as it is something that “will stay in your family for generations, and means so much more than its monetary worth,” Crockett said.

That’s an important belief at the shop, that jewelry is art, carrying sentiment through time and generations. It’s a philosophy that the owners impart to Crocket and fellow employee Justin Lynn.

Together, the four are continuing an increasingly rare form of jewelry and art. Thomes and Gilbert relate their knowledge, and Crockett and Lynn are trying to catch up to them.

And with the skills they are teaching, they also hope to impart a sense of the trade that they value.

“Because of our time in the industry we have had a lot of time to think about what is good and what is bad about commercial jewelry and retail,” Gilbert said.

For example, something as simple as lighting is important.

“When we started this place, I decided I wanted a lot of natural light,” she said, noting that many shops avoid natural light, and rely on artificial. “They want to control the environment that has interior case lighting and really loud spotlights.”

“I want people to be able to see their stones for what they are,” Gilbert said. “A lot of commercial jewelry stores are trying to sell based on brilliance and you take it out of the case and it’s not quite as bright as it was in the store. I think that’s wrong.”

Gems in the Emerald City

Thomes and Gilbert have a reputation as experts in the jewelry community, partially earned through their shop on Bainbridge Island. The shop celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2014. But the careers they have crafted took decades to forge. Thomes was a graphic artist and a carpenter before he broke into the jewelry world in 1980.

“I was making American Native[-style] jewelry as an homage to my distant relatives. Then I met a jeweler who was an owner of fine jewelry at Nordstrom,” Thomes said. “At that time I was a carpenter but wanted to get into the jewelry business.

“It’s hard to get into the jewelry business because jewelers usually only hire their relatives, and jewelers are also paranoid,” he said. “They don’t want to hire someone and then find out if they are honest or not.”

Thomes made jewelry at Nordstrom from 1980-87. He said developing his carving skills was difficult and that he almost gave it up after five years, but his boss at the time talked him into sticking with it.

Sticking with it paid off in more ways than one. It was through his job that he met Gilbert, then working as a gemologist at Nordstrom, now his wife.

“I went to work for Nordstrom in ’82 as their gemologist and met Drew,” she said. “We worked together until we got married in ’85.”

Gilbert came from another side of the business. She specializes in gems, crystals and stones.

“I’m the rock person,” she said.

“I started out in an old store in Seattle that is no longer there,” Gilbert said. “I earned my gemology degree in 1980 and was the appraiser at Friedlander’s.”

After Nordstrom, she went to work for Carroll’s Fine Jewelry in Seattle. She has since earned further certifications in the field.

Thomes spent the bulk of his career as a freelance jeweler. His work was found in a range of shops throughout Seattle. He was also sought out.

“One job I was asked to do was for the royal family of the Shah of Iran after he was disposed,” Thomes said. “I also did a lot of work for people inside the business that nobody would recognize.”

When the couple retired to Bainbridge Island, they decided to put their combined skills into a new shop.

“We’ve done well and met a lot of nice people and made some beautiful things,” Thomes said.

A custom trade

Thomes’ craft isn’t often found in the modern world of mass-produced jewelry. He starts with a solid block of purple wax that is much like wood. Then he sculpts it, carving it into a unique shape, a work of art.

The wax is transferred to a cast, which is then used to mold a metal such as gold or silver. The original wax carving that took so long to craft is destroyed in the casting process. This means that when Thomes makes a piece, it is one of a kind.

“Rings I love, they are my favorite,” Thomes said. “It’s something for a person, for their whole lives if I do it right.”

He also makes pendants, bracelets, necklaces and earrings.

“People have asked me to do a wide variety of things other than jewelry,” he said. “Like miniature cars and scenic views and architectural parts for windows and umbrellas.”

The work is custom made, to the liking of the customer. The custom work strays from the more common place jewelry found at shops that is mass-produced.

“Now they use computer controlled electric ovens, things are much more scientific than casting,” Thomes said.

Gilbert, on the other hand, is an expert appraiser with knowledge of gems, crystals stones and much more. She can go from one end of the store to the other, picking through stones and crystals along the way, tell you how they formed, if they are natural or grown in a lab, and more.

“I like antiques as well,” she said, noting the variety in the shop. “Being an appraiser, for almost 35 years, it’s amazing the range of jewelry I’ve appraised.”

Together, they form a valuable team — an artist and an intellect apt for custom jobs.

Passing the torch

Thomes has been officially retired for some time, working part-time at the shop. As the 10-year anniversary of the business approached, he and Gilbert wanted to keep their skills going, but with new hands.

“Alice and I don’t have children of our own,” Thomes said. “We realize after 10 years that we are reaching retirement and we realized that we needed help.”

The couple advertised for an employee and received interest from as far as New York and South Africa. But no one seemed to be the right fit. They found help locally, which led to a chance meeting.

Thomes and Gilbert were headed to a doctor’s appointment and didn’t want to leave their sole employee alone. That’s when Justin Lynn walked in to say ‘hello’ to a friend, then-employee Sarah Herrin, at the shop.

“I hired him for one day and asked him to be Sarah’s bodyguard,” Gilbert said. “And when I came back he was sitting with a customer. When he left he said it was a really nice place to work.”

“Justin is really a wonderful showman and a really good promoter,” Gilbert said. “He came in one day to cover for us when we were gone and decided to stay.”

He now truly knows how nice it is to work at Gilbert Thomes, because he does.

“I was only meant to work at the store once,” Lynn said. “Alice and Drew came back early and we got to talking about history and jewelry, and how each piece they sell will be in a family for generations and will create its own story.”

“I guess we connected on enough levels that they thought it would be a good idea to give me a job,” he said.

Lynn, who is most widely known for his work in the theater, got to work and was soon producing his own rings.

“For most of my life I’ve been a performance artist. I love acting. I know the craft and I’m pretty good at it,” Lynn said. “When I started working at Gilbert Thomes, I knew next to nothing about the visual arts, so the idea of making custom jewelry was intimidating. And make no mistake, what we do at Gilbert Thomes is art.”

Just as Thomes tapped into his own ancestry when making his art, Lynn has as well, at the start of his craft.

“My family is primarily of Norse decent,” he said. “Growing up, I felt a strong connection to my ancestry and my jewelry designs reflect that. If you want a piece that looks hammer finished, or a piece covered in runes, or something that looks old and powerful, I’m the designer to talk to.”

Lynn has been training for more than a year, and is still pushing himself to go further.

“Drew and Alice know everything there is to know about the business,” Lynn said. “So working with them is a non-stop learning experience.”

“They are also incredibly kind people who are firmly grounded in the community they love,” he said.

Crockett’s entrance in to the trade is a similar tale.

“I came to drop off my necklace and say ‘hello’ to Justin, but I was quickly hooked,” Crockett said. “I was enchanted by all the beautiful pieces of jewelry, minerals specimens, and antiques. From then on I was visiting all the time just for fun. I always joked with Justin that if any positions ever opened up, he knew who to call. Much to my surprise, he did just that.”

Crockett has a background in design, something she brings to the job.

“Through Justin we found our new designer, Taylor Crockett,” Thomes said. “She’s going to be an outstanding jeweler if she sticks with it.”

Crockett is motivated, and said that the work is continually fascinating.

“When I’m working as a carver with Drew, my artistic brain is being trained,” she said. “When I’m with Alice, I get to learn about the scientific properties of stones and metals which as always interested me.”

With two eager to learn the craft, it is a way for the experts to pass the bejeweled torch to a new generation of craftsmen.

“We are continuing what we are doing, because we are training Tay and Justin,” Gilbert said.

“Part of the reason I want them to succeed is because I think Bainbridge needs a good jewelry store they can trust and go to, and they have great potential to fulfill the roles we have when we retire.”