What's the difference between Gems by Jake and other jewelers?  Some jewelers buy finished stones and then make a setting for them.  Other jewelers buy the stones and the settings, put them together and sell them as their own.  Many just buy finished pieces and they're just the salesman.  Very few jewelers actually do the lapidary work (lapidary is the cutting and polishing of raw stones) on the stones AND create the settings for each stone.  And, almost no jewelers go out and find the raw stones, turn that raw stone into a finished stone and create the setting for the stone.  

Many of the gems in Jake's collection were found by Jake himself during his annual rockhounding trip, covering several states and parts of Canada.  Jake visits abandoned mines and public lands, as well as working mines that allow the public to search their tailings to find the stones he uses in his jewelry.  Of course, there are a lot of stones that are from other parts of the world, and Jake has to buy some of these to add variety to his collection.  But Jake always buys the raw material and creates the gemstone himself. He never buys a finished stone, and he strives to create unique, free-form and unusual pieces that are not "run of the mill" type of jewelry, that feature the natural characteristics of the stone.

Jake (Dan Jacobson) worked for many years as a lawyer, but got tired of the practice of law and wanted to do something new and different.  About ten years ago he went to Alaska on vacation and spent some time prospecting for gold.  Being in Alaska, in the wilderness and digging for gold, was something that was special and exciting, and definitely different!  When he was offered an opportunity to buy into a gold mine, he took it.  So, every year Jake would drive to Alaska to mine for gold, stopping along the way to look for gemstones - emeralds in N. Carolina, fire agate in Arizona, turquoise in Nevada, fire opals in Idaho, jade in British Columbia, amethyst in Ontario to name a few.  Then, he thought how much fun it would be to turn these raw stones into jewelry, so he learned the lapidary and metal working arts, and began to create his own handmade jewelry.  Jake takes care to ensure that his jewelry has a rugged, natural look.   Take a look and you'll see why Gems by Jake is different from all the rest.   And, check out the gold nugget section too, all found by Jake himself in Alaska!