Colorado father-son craftsmen sell to the world on Handmade at Amazon

Steve Midgett’s life’s work has been dedicated to unlocking the secrets of metals and creating new methods of working with them. Since 1974, Steve has worked with mokume gane (woodgrain metal) and other precious metals and through his work discovered a completely new method of creating patterned metals. He soon realized there was a real market to use this design to create handmade rings. Midgett asked his son Jacob Midgett – a fellow craftsman and artisan – to help him create more rings to sell and Steven Jacob was born.

“We have an awesome time working together 95 percent of the time and the other 5 percent we behave just like any other father and son,” Steve Midgett said.

After the father-son duo received several inquiries from retailers, they didn’t see it as a fit for their business, and found large jewelry manufacturers did not have the same vision for the custom-made rings, which require a significant amount of time and detail. They instead decided to launch their business online and immediately orders started flowing in.    

In 2015, Amazon reached out to the Midgetts ahead of the Handmade at Amazon launch to gauge their interest in creating a storefront on the new site. Unlike other websites targeting artists and crafters, sellers must apply and get approval to sell on Handmade. Realizing the opportunity to reach so many customers around the world, the Midgetts immediately signed on.   

The company sold their first ring via Amazon the day after the Handmade store launch and since, have received orders from across the world – as far as South Africa. Steven Jacob was also a featured artisan on Handmade at Amazon around Valentine’s Day, which had a significant impact on sales.

In May, Handmade at Amazon announced the Handmade Wedding Shop, a destination that offers thousands of handcrafted items including jewelry, wedding décor, invitations, gifts and jewelry.

“The day of the Handmade Wedding Shop announcement we saw a big bump in orders,” said Jacob Midgett. “We’re now developing a whole new line of ring styles to offer Handmade at Amazon shoppers a broader selection.”

Some of Steven Jacob’s most popular rings include the woodgrain pattern, the Damascus ring lined in gold, and they have seen an increase in rose gold requests.

“In this day-in-age there’s so much variety and space to experiment with new materials and metals. It’s a great feeling to handcraft something that brings someone joy on one of the biggest days of their lives” said Steve Midgett.

Steven Jacob has started hiring other local Colorado artisans to support business growth, and are even looking at eventually purchasing a larger studio. “At some point, my dad is going to retire,” Jacob Midgett said, “and I’ll need certain skill sets to keep meeting the demand of custom orders.”

The company has grown so much over the last four years, and expects continued growth with the Handmade Wedding Shop. 

“We put a lot of hard work and creative energy into making quality, durable rings that will delight and fascinate for many, years,” Jacob said. “You can’t find a finer patterned metal ring anywhere.”