 The
roots of Ames Silversmithing were put down in 1976
with $1,500 and a dream. Disenchanted with college,
Gary Youngberg was searching for some direction in his
life. Gary had always loved rocks and gems and had
even taught himself how to make jewelry while in
college. Gary eventually decided to leave college
after two years and, in August 1976, Gary and his fiancée
Karen opened Ames Silversmithing at 130 Main in
downtown Ames, Iowa.
Originally
working in silver and semi-precious stones, Gary
worked diligently, producing his one-of-a-kind jewelry
creations. These pieces were sold not only in the
store, but also at various art fairs around the area.
As business grew, both Gary and Karen received their
diamond training through the Gemological Institute of
America, the leading gemological laboratory in the
world. Soon, Gary was working in gold, platinum,
diamonds and an extensive selection of precious and
semi-precious colored gemstones.
 In 1977, Ames
Silversmithing moved to a larger location at 220 Main
in downtown Ames. In 1981, Dave Anderson joined the
Ames Silversmithing team. In addition to being trained
through GIA, Dave's artistic talent and technical
abilities are without peer.
In 1990, Ames
Silversmithing completed yet another expansion, this
time more than doubling their size. This was
accomplished by building a completely new facility on
their old site. Shortly after this expansion, Scott
Sorem joined Ames Silversmithing. Scott also was
trained through GIA not only in diamonds, but jewelry
design as well.
In 2000,
Justine Marshek, a recent graduate of GIA, joined the
ranks at Ames Silversmithing, lending her design
talents to the ever-growing store. With the addition
of yet another employee, it was soon apparent that
Ames Silversmithing would again need to expand. This
expansion made room for two more workbenches, thus
allowing four full-time artists to design and create
their jewelry.
Now a second
generation of Youngberg's is entering the business.
Kyle, 23, graduated from Iowa State in business and is
in the midst of receiving his diamond training through
GIA. Kyle works not only in sales and customer
relations, but also in inventory management and
administration. Kirk, 21, explored college for 2 years, but now brings his talents to the bench, designing and creating jewelry with fresh and unique ideas.
As Ames
Silversmithing continues to grow, we'd like to thank
you, our customers, for trusting and believing in what
we do. Your support has allowed us to have vision, to
become the artists we so dearly love to be and for
this we say, from the bottom of our hearts,
"Thank you!"
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