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Meet the First ‘Forensic Jeweler’ in the World

Published

6 years ago

March 30, 2018

INSTORE Staff

Trained as a jewelry designer, she’s pioneering a new field.

If you’ve never heard of a forensic jeweler, there’s a good reason: It’s a job title that didn’t exist before.

Maria Maclennan is profiled in a new article published by OZY in conjunction with the Financial Times. The 29-year-old Scotlander has helped forensic teams to ID victims of catastrophes, including plane crashes, inluding various countries.

She’s described in the article as “the world’s first forensic jeweler.”

Trained as a jewelry designer, Maclennan says jewelry is useful in forensic identification for several reasons, not least of which is the fact that it’s sometimes relatively unscathed after a disaster. Additionally, she notes, gemstones frequently retain DNA from from their owners.

And watches, of course, often bear serial numbers that can be useful in identifying their wearers.

The doctoral thesis that she recently turned in at the University of Dundee is “on the use of jewelry in forensic identification,” according to the article.

Read more at OZY

When There’s No Succession Plan, Call Wilkerson

Bob Wesley, owner of Robert C. Wesley Jewelers in Scottsdale, Ariz., was a third-generation jeweler. When it was time to enjoy life on the other side of the counter, he weighed his options. His lease was nearing renewal time and with no succession plan, he decided it was time to call Wilkerson. There was plenty of inventory to sell and at first, says Wesley, he thought he might try to manage a sale himself. But he’s glad he didn’t. “There’s no way I could have done this as well as Wilkerson,” he says. Wilkerson took responsibility for the entire event, with every detail — from advertising to accounting — done, dusted and managed by the Wilkerson team. “It’s the complete package,” he says of the Wilkerson method of helping jewelers to easily go on to the next phase of their lives. “There’s no way any retailer can duplicate what they’ve done.”