Jewelry designer wins award | Local News | kenoshanews.com - Kenosha News
You could say that Racine native John Langenfeld has the Midas touch.
The certified gemologist and owner of Kenosha’s Gold Diamond & Design, 10320 75th St., Suite B, recently won his 16th award for jewelry design with a first place in the Midwest Jewelers Association’s “Gemmy Awards” for original design.
His winning piece, a one-of-a-kind, custom-designed white gold ring, features a bezel-set diamond surrounded by eight bead-set diamonds and eight bead-set Ceylon blue sapphires. The hand-cast ring also has 10 brilliant-cut diamonds down the sides and has a hand-engraved scroll and leaf motif. The winning entry then goes on to represent Wisconsin in the national competition held in New York in March.
His original design ring showcasing a large yellow diamond also won a first-place award last year.
What he enjoys, said 57-year-old Langenfeld, is being able to give a customer that special, custom-made piece they won’t find anywhere else. If he doesn’t have something you like, “then we’d like you to come back here and we’ll design you something,” he said.
Certified gemologist and goldsmith
A certified gemologist and goldsmith, Langenfeld has been working with jewelry since taking art metals and jewelry-making classes at St. Catherine’s High School in Racine. He learned hand engraving and jewelry manufacturing at the Gem City College in Quincy, Ill. He received his degree as a certified gemologist from the Gemological Institute in California — as did his wife, Audrey.
Langenfeld worked nine years as an apprentice with different jewelers, learning various techniques of making jewelry and design. Or as he put it, “I think on my first job I learned more what not to do than what to do.” He also has won three top Spectrum awards for his designs in international industry competitions.
He still believes in doing everything on-site himself, from creating his own designs using a computer aided design (CAD) program, to doing the casting, metal pouring, finishing, polishing and stone setting on-site. The one difference is he now makes the initial model with a 3D printer.
To him, being so hands-on makes sense.
“The more people that get involved, the further the chance there can be interpretation mishaps,” he said. “Doing the casting here, I can control all the variables. I’m doing this for a living, it’s gotta be right.”
The couple, also high school sweethearts, don’t mind sharing both home and work lives. An accountant, Audrey handles the business aspects and helps with certain details of the manufacturing. John is also training her in other aspects of making jewelry.
“We’re doing something we really enjoy and can make a living at it,” she said.
“She’s computer savvy,” he said. “When I hand mill, I have someone I can bounce ideas off of. I don’t feel like we’re cooped up. We work well together.”
Now in their 13th year of business, they are preparing to move at the end of March due to the present building owner’s expansion. They plan to reopen the store in April in a historic building they bought at 402 Main Street in Racine.
While the custom pieces he does are specialized work, Langenfeld looks forward to continuing to offer everything at all price points. He offers the custom-made pieces to small repairs, plus jewelry cleaning, re-setting stones or that special gift for someone. He also carries a range of jewelry from other companies.
Whoever the client or their price range, he said, “they want something nice, and I can give them something nice.”
