Headlines

Jeweler Has No Fingers, Creates Amazing Work Anyway

She says fingers would just get in the way.

Published

7 years ago

October 2, 2016

INSTORE Staff

Annette Gabbedey gets a lot of questions about her work as a jeweler — people aren’t sure how she manages it with no fingers.

Gabbedey, whose shop is in Somerset, England, has never known the profession any other way.

She doesn’t even use special tools — she adapts, or adapt to, the regular ones. Usually it’s just a matter of holding the tool in a specific position.

“When you’ve been born with something, then you learn your way of doing things from birth,” Gabbedey says in the video below, which comes from Link TV. She specializes in diamonds and opals and does mostly custom work.

Gabbedey is shown using various jewelers’ tools, drawing in her sketch book and doing daily tasks around her studio — all with apparent ease.

Link TV explains that she “even says she could not imagine doing her job with fingers because they ‘must get in the way.’”

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Wilkerson: “They Feel Like Family”

Newton’s Jewelers in Fort Smith, Ark., was a true institution. But after being at the helm for most of his life, owner (and descendent of the original founder) Kelly Newton decided it was time to retire. He chose Wilkerson to handle the sale. “I’ve known the owners of Wilkerson for a long, long time. I felt at home with them,” he says. The final retirement sale was just a “blast” and the Wilkerson sales team made it so very simple and straightforward, says Newton. Would he recommend Wilkerson to others? Absolutely. “They’ve done incredible work,” says Newton. “They feel like family.”