For a man with almost 65,000 Instagram followers, Heber City jeweler Scott Whitaker is hard to find.  Under the name @scottjamesjewelry, you’ll see him doing a series of “What’s Inside Wednesday” videos, cutting gems in half to admire the swirling patterns inside as an indie tune plays in the background. In person, Whitaker spends most days hunched over a desk in his private workshop, silent as a monk. “I even hate to take a phone call nowadays,” Whitaker joked. The jeweler owned a brick-and-mortar storefront on Main Street from 2006 to 2018 before realizing all the tasks involved in managing operations weren’t for him. He then shifted to an online-only operation.  For someone whose business is primarily digital, Whitaker also isn’t much for technology.  “I don’t know if it makes us any happier. I don’t know if it makes us more productive. It definitely makes us work more, and it’s supposed to make us work less,” he said. Looking back on Whitaker’s childhood, the sentiment makes sense. His family moved to the Heber Valley from Seattle when he was 14.  Inexplicably, his parents created a rule as soon as they made it to Utah: no TVs. Although he spent his adolescence unsure of what “Seinfeld” was, Whitaker was ultimately grateful. “I did not transfer that to my children, and I feel bad. I should have done no TVs or no screens,” he said.  His father had relocated the family to Midway to relive the glory days of his youth, when he worked at The Homestead every summer. Whitaker’s grandfather and great uncles, who owned the resort from 1952 to 1972, were the ones who renamed it from its original moniker Schneitter’s Hot Pots. But Whitaker’s childhood was a little less glamorous than his father’s: he learned to irrigate fields and feed cows on the family farm, though he said it was a valuable experience. It was also at that time that Whitaker fell head over heels with jewelry in art classes taught by the late Sue Villella at Wasatch High School.  He’d been interested in making jewelry since he was a kid, stringing beads on fishing wire and learning macramé from his grandmother, but it wasn’t until Villella’s class that the intricacies of the craft, like the cutting and polishing of semi-precious stones, revealed themselves.  Credit: Courtesy of Scott James Jewelry Credit: Courtesy of Scott James Jewelry Scott James Jewelry offers necklaces, bracelets, rings, bolos, belt buckles and more. For Whitaker, his lifelong interest in jewelry is simple.  “Personally, I’ve always loved the process of creating something and then being able to wear and use that thing,” he said, and besides, “Most people have an interest in shiny things.” After graduating high school, Whitaker worked at Tommy Knockers Custom Jewelry on Park City’s Main Street. Jewelry has been his full-time career ever since. “It’s so weird for me because my brother is a corporate guy at Schwab,” Whitaker said. “What is that world like? I have no clue.” With his wife, Melissa, Whitaker bought Broderick’s Fine Jewelry in Heber City in 2006 and reinvented it as Scott James Jewelry. It was an uphill battle with a global financial crisis hitting two years later, but it did provide plenty of opportunities to buy, refine and reuse gold. Whitaker said many people were “just trying to pay their bills” and were liquidating whatever assets they had. Recently, it’s silver that’s presented the greatest challenge for Whitaker. The price of silver rose from over $25 per ounce in April to nearly $125 per ounce in January, according to reporting by the BBC, though the price has since begun to decline. Analysts have attributed the rise in price to factors like economic uncertainty and demand from industries like electronics.  It’s been a challenge for Whitaker, who uses silver in many of his products, from rings, necklaces and bracelets to bolos and belt buckles.  Beyond silver, Whitaker’s favorite materials to work with include turquoise, Montana sapphires, jasper and petrified wood. He’s also a fan of lab-grown diamonds as a more sustainable alternative to the real thing. He orders gemstones from across the globe, as near as New Mexico and as far as China and India. He tries his best to order from ethical, family run businesses. For Whitaker, that means getting to know the owner personally so he can better judge their character. Many of Whitaker’s materials have more local origins. He spends much of his time with his family outdoors, be it for hiking or a cold plunge. When he’s in nature, Whitaker scans his surroundings, taking home materials like tree bark to cast into metal. Recently, he’s thought about starting a new series of videos on social media, where he would find unassuming rocks from a gravel pit or dirt trail and refine them into jewelry. “I’m a big believer of ‘anything has beauty as long as it’s looked at in the right way,’” he said.  That’s exemplified by his series of sterling silver necklaces, each struck a single time by a rock. The resulting mark reflects the rock’s texture, mesmerizing in its beautiful imperfection. Nature bleeds into Whitaker’s work in other ways. For example, his topography line recreates the ridges of mountains, from the Wasatch Range to Mount Timpanogos, in silver pendants.  In running an online store, Whitaker has made pieces for customers as far as Australia and Ukraine. Although he has a “decent local following,” he misses the face-to-face interaction with customers. Still, the emotional tenderness of making a wedding ring or setting a loved one’s ashes into a wearable piece has stuck with him. “I don’t know how many customers I’ve hugged and cried with over the years. And those are unique experiences. I mean, maybe you get it in accounting or these other places. I don’t know if you do,” Whitaker said. “It’s a privilege to know that you can be part of the story in some way.”  Whitaker’s website is scottjamesjewelry.com. You can also find him on Instagram @scottjamesjewelry. The post Inside the world of Heber City jeweler Scott Whitaker appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less