A Saturday in Hyde Park Village, with a Stop at the Bench
Saturday is the day the studio fills. People come to Hyde Park Village for the shaded streets and the coffee and stay for the afternoon, and a good number of them end up at 1605 W Snow Circle with a wrist out, waiting for a chain to be welded. If you are planning a Saturday in the Village, here is how ours goes, and how to fold a visit into yours.
Morning: the bench
The first hours are the quiet ones. The bench is lit, the day's made-to-order pieces are laid out, and the hammering starts. If you want a real conversation about a custom piece, an engagement ring, a stone you own, an heirloom that needs a new life, the morning is when there is room for it. Bring reference images or bring nothing; either works. A consultation costs nothing and there is no pressure to decide that day.
Midday: the cases
By late morning the street is busy and the cases are open. This is the time to try things on. Gold filled and sterling silver pieces are on the shelf and ready to take home; the fine jewelry sits alongside them, and a few one-of-a-kind pieces that never make it to the website are usually somewhere in the room. If you are buying a gift and are not sure, tell us about the person. It is faster than browsing.
Afternoon: permanent jewelry
Saturday afternoons belong to permanent jewelry. A fine chain is fitted to your wrist, ankle or neck, cut to length and welded closed, with no clasp and nothing to take off. It takes about fifteen minutes per person, and it is the thing friends, sisters, and mothers and daughters most often come in together for. Weekends fill, so book ahead; when the bench is free we take walk-ins.
Getting here
The studio is inside Hyde Park Village in South Tampa, at 1605 W Snow Circle. There is a garage just off Snow Avenue and street parking through the neighborhood. Current hours, including holiday hours, are on our Google listing.
Before you go
Pieces bought in the studio come home with you the same day. Pieces made to order are forged for you over the following days and shipped, or held for pickup if you would rather come back. Either way, you leave knowing the person who made it.
If you cannot make it on a Saturday, a weekday morning is the quietest time of all, and the best time for a long conversation about a piece that does not exist yet.
