Craig Cosbey

What kind of jewelry do you make?

I use gears and watch faces from antique watches; I recycle and refurbish antique watches; I give them a second chance. I make earrings and bracelets, rings, necklaces and tie-tacs. I am big into recycling.

How did you get started making jewelry?

I made my mom a necklace out of all my favorite old watch faces. I could not let go of them even though they were broken. She wore it to church, and everybody wanted to buy it. So began his foray into the art of jewelry making.

Is Jewelry Making a business or a hobby?

Craig previously worked as a seasonal bartender spending time in Alaska, Hawaii and Arizona, but now is settled down in Ketchikan, Alaska and devotes his time to his jewelry-making business dubbed, "Redeeming Time."

"I got out of bartending and now focus on jewelry." He said, "I didn't plan on it being a small business, it was a hobby, but I can't put the brakes on now." Due to the constant requests for jewelry pieces, he recently rented an office and is in the process of creating a website.

His recycled watch jewelry is in six stores in Ketchikan where there is a booming tourist industry. Craig sells at two art festivals in Ketchikan: The Winter Arts Festival that happens between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and the Blueberry Festival in July. Hailing from southern Oregon, Craig sometimes sells at Saturday markets in Eugene, Oregon and other smaller town markets when he visits his parents.

He enjoys fishing, hiking and boating as well and says his designs are sometimes inspired by nature, raindrops, sea creatures and trees. No two pieces are alike as no two antique watches are alike.

One of his clients had a husband who had passed away recently. He was an avid fisherman and his wife brought Craig her husband's old pocket watches. Craig not only used the watches to make jewelry for the woman, but wire-worked in some little ear bones from the halibut fish. His client was delighted. There were tears involved, said Craig. When he presented her with the jewelry made from the cherished items, she said "Thank you so much, now I can be reminded of my husband every day."

People donate watches to him to refurbish, and he also scours thrift stores for parts. He has friends who keep an eye out for the vintage watches he finds so compelling as well. He says it makes him feel good hearing people's stories and using their old broken timepieces to make jewelry.

Advice to Aspiring Jewelry Makers

When I first started doing it, I was very shy, he said. I was really putting my heart out there. His family and friends were the recipients of his designs and they all encouraged him to be brave and sell his work to the public.

He passes that advice on to aspiring jewelry makers, "Just do it, he said. "Don't be embarrassed, don't be shy. Know your worth."