About Us

Mountain Scene Jewelry is a two-person business.

We work in our home in Big Pine, CA, pop. 1300.  Our work and play are completely intertwined and nearly always fun.

Sandy Sanderson is a master jeweler, sculptor, metalsmith and designer,trained at The Gemological Institute of America,
the Revere Academy in San Francisco, and the bench for 35 years.

Lauren is his companion, assistant and webmistress.

If you call, one or the other of us will answer the phone.

Here's a link to our Mountain Scene Jewelry Blog.
And another to our Flickr pics page.

Sandy Sanderson

I am a jeweler, sculptor, designer, and a third generation local in
the beautiful Mono Basin.

As the son of a gold miner and old western sheriff, I grew up
tunneling, drilling, blasting and shovelling, learning applied
natural sciences, while filling all my spare time creating beautiful things.

I discovered that jewelry making would integrate all my passions:
love of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, art, science, and a strong
desire to create.

This always changing relationship has evolved into 35 years
of jewelry making experience, giving me the knowledge and
skills to accomplish my most complex and artistic visions.

After 60 years I’ m still living my dream on the eastern cheek
of the High Sierra – sharing my Mountain Scene Jewelry
with folks from all over the world.

Lauren

I lovingly created and maintain the websites, take all the
jewelry pics you see here, and manage all the business related
tasks.  Until the first of this year, I taught sociology and
anthropology at our local community colleges in Bishop and
Mammoth Lakes, CA.

Now I'm learning a whole new set of skills, including bits of
jewelry design and fabrication. Working with Sandy is truly
a joy and I've done my best to design this site so that you
can see Sandy's artistry and skills.   If it seems as though
I'm a little over the top sometimes - well, the truth is
that I'm exercising a lot of restraint!
You can contact me here: springwoman{at}usamedia{dot}tv
Website suggestions and critiques are most welcome.

Our Life and Work Environment:

Sandy owned a jewelry store and workshop in Crowley Lake, CA, for 19 years.  Many, many locals and travelers to the area have heard through word of mouth about Sandy's unique mountain jewelry.  Consequently, nearly every place we go in our area - the grocery store, hiking, or local events - we run into folks wearing something created by Sandy or his partner Cookie (who still runs the shop in Crowley Lake). Several years ago we moved about 40 miles south to Big Pine and began working out of our home. We work together here - me, Lauren at the front with a view of the Sierra Mountains out my window, Sandy constantly back and forth between his office and workshop at the back of the house with a view of the White/Inyo Mountains. We meet all over, excited, exchanging ideas, frustrations, taking time out for bike rides on the dirt roads just a block from home.

Our town, Big Pine, CA is small, with about 1300 people. We’re surrounded by beauty that just stretches on and on in all directions. We live near the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, the Palisade Glacier, Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the continental US, Death Valley, Yosemite, Mono Lake - the list goes on and on. And all of these landscapes are the inspiration for Sandy's jewelry.  If you’re interested in seeing some pictures of the area, check out our Flickr pics link above and our Links page has lots of local resources listed. We adventure often, from spontaneous short trips to blow off some energy, to days and days driving around on dirt roads, hiking, looking and learning, and camping wherever it feels friendly.

We are living a dream here...    

Message for You, from Lauren

I originally wrote this for our blog during the spring when we first realized that we were making a living through web sales.  This is dedicated to all of you who've found us on the net by using your imagination and surfing skills. 

A Hearty Thanks To You From Us!


"Internet and Imagination"

I’ve been banging on Sandy’s Mountain Scene Jewelry website for 5 years now, reading, taking advice, updating, etc. What I have not done is much linking - a small links page for friends in business, 2 links on the home page that were required for reciprocity (stinky), and I’ve put us in a few link farms whenever I’ve stumbled across one that’s relevant and easy.

As we all know, linking is supposed to be the deal, pretty nearly the whole deal.
So, how are we (almost completely) making a living from web sales when I’ve ignored the issue? First, we live well within our means, usually, and in a place where it’s not easy to go shopping and spend - a middle of nowhere.
Second, linking seems to be secondary to defining your niche well and making all your coding/content relevant and redundant.
Third, and most interestingly, is that folks find us. This is wild because I’ve been yapping about our unique marketing problem: no one knows that mountain jewelry exists. I’m not a marketer or business person by inclination or training, so this has been like an insurmountable wall for me. I search for relevant info (hard) and refuse to implement the ideas I do find (easy).

So how is this working?

I encouraged Sandy to ask our clients. The essence of their answers - imagination and desire.

This got me thinking of the Internet as similar to the time when medieval map makers symbolized uncharted territory with dragons and scary monsters. Sort of.  Yes, there are many capable and imaginative folks working to create and understand the architecture, the network structure and dynamics and the extent of the net.  And only a set of folks see scary stuff along the edges (or the middle, or everywhere, depending on their general fear level).

It’s the uncharted territory idea that I’m going for. Anything could be out there in cyberspace, and our clients are like explorers. This is phenomenal.

If you’re a client reading this - cheers to you and your way of thinking!"

Some Thoughts On Dirty Gold

Environmental and Human Costs

"Because most of the known gold deposits in the world are in microscopic form — the shiny nuggets of old are as dated as the miner and his mule — huge industrial open-pit mines, usually using cyanide to retrieve the metal from base rock, are required to make mining economically viable." ("With This Ethical Ring I Thee Wed", New York TImes, April, 6, 2006)

"Gold mining, too, bears the scars of conflict, destruction, and human rights abuse. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, armed groups fighting for control of gold mines and trading routes have committed murderous crimes using the profits from gold to fund their activities and buy weapons." ("Gold Mining and Conflict", http://www.nodirtygold.org/)

Due to activist pressure, alternatives to cyanide are being sought. "Mr. Kowalski, Tiffany's chairman, has tried to stay ahead of the controversy. He has broken new ground by buying Tiffany's gold from a mine in Utah that does not use cyanide." (No Dirty Gold website)  If you'd like to learn more about these options and the metals extraction process itself, click here.

Demand for gold and other precious metal jewelry climbs as people around the world make more money.  "In the Middle East, demand for gold rose 7.5% last year [in 2004] while demand for jewellery grew 12% and 16% in China and India respectively." (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/business/4491013.stm)

Precious metals are still being mined here in the US, though pressures from environmental lobbies and frightened residents may drive more mining to less developed nations.

Thanks to some organizations that are raising awareness, the jewelry industry as a whole is recognizing that they must address this issue.  As a result, several national and international organizations have been created to design standards of conduct for the industry, from mining, to refining, to wholesale and retail. This may seem to be trifling, but the industry will work to secure it's piece of the economy.

The "No Dirty Gold" campaign was launched 2 years ago by advocacy groups to highlight these issues.
"But cleaning up dirty gold mining is not just a public relations exercise. It's about making concrete, on-the-ground changes in the way that this metal is produced--changes that make a tangible difference to communities and ecosystems affected by mining operations." (http://www.nodirtygold.org)

The Golden Rules call on mining companies to meet the following basic standards in their operations :
* Respect for basic human rights outlined in international conventions and law
* Free, prior, and informed consent of affected communities.
* Safe working conditions
* Respect for workers' rights and labor standards (including the eight core ILO conventions)
* Ensure that operations are not located in areas of armed or militarized conflict
* Ensure that projects do not force communities off their lands.
* No dumping of mine wastes into the ocean, rivers, lakes, or streams
* Ensure that projects are not located in protected areas, fragile ecosystems or other areas of high conservation or ecological value
* Ensure that projects do not generate sulfuric acid in perpetuity
* Cover all costs of closing down and cleaning up mine sites
* Fully disclose information about social and environmental effects of projects
* Allow independent verification of the above

The UK Council for Responsible Jewellery Practices is attracting the membership of large American retailers. From their site, "The Council for Responsible Jewellery Practices was founded in May 2005 with Members from a cross section of the diamond and gold jewellery supply chain, from mine to retail. Council Members are committed to promoting responsible business practices in a transparent and accountable manner throughout the industry from mine to retail. Their commitment aims to maintain consumer confidence in diamond and gold jewellery products and the trust of all interested stakeholders in their industry."

Our Practices:
For the small shop bench jeweler, recycling is a commonplace aspect of the jewelry making process.

Whether a jeweler casts or fabricates, metal filings and dust from polishing are as ubiquitous as dirt in a workshop. Sandy sweeps his bench and shop surfaces and floor with a special vaccum and sends these "sweeps" to be refined, or in other words, recycled. This amounts to a significant quantity of metals. Any jeweler who wants to not only recycle, but also not throw away a profitable natural resource does so.

He has also acquired an awful lot of used jewelry over the years which we also send to be refined and recycled.  Many of our customers refashion jewelry that they've inherited.  We can melt these pieces ourselves or send them out for refining and refashion them into new jewelry. If you're interested in doing this just let us know. 

In jewelry fabrication, metal is often cut into shapes from a larger sheet using various techniques. Obviously then, there remain significant quantities of unused odd-shaped pieces left over from projects. We have boxes of such material that we melt for casting.

Casting involves the creation of a "tree" to which the individual pieces are attached, as shown in the picture below.

Everything but the rings can then be remelted and used for another casting. This is also a common practice.

And, of course, we buy our materials from folks who are complying with new sound standards.


The Bottom Line for us: We all hope for continued prosperity for all people, governments of industrialized nations demand this of less industrialized nations in exchange for helping programs.  The widening income gap is becoming scary.  Yet, if we humans want to follow the Walmart and Target model, buying, buying, owning 47 pairs of cheap earrings, hordes of rings and pendants that we lose or forget about, then demand will continue to rise dramatically.  This isn't prosperity.  It's greed.  And, these choices facilitate the widening income gap so that folks at the top can store their hordes of jewelry in metal boxes in safes or banks.  Makes me think of my grandma.  She raised 9 kids by herself during the 30's and 40's and insisted on buying sheets and furniture and clothes that were expensive, because they lasted and were nicer.  We can boost our immunity to advertising propaganda and we don't have to stop wearing jewelry either.

Sandy and I stand for, in our hearts and our business, the creation of symbolically meaningful jewelry that will last for generations.  Your grandkids may melt it down, but that's their choice.  The point is that our jewelry will last that long and we hope that if you buy something from us it will be meaningful enough for you to wear it.