Long-time member
A Maker who has been a valued part of this community for several years.
Fast shipper
Customers say that this Maker ships promptly after completing a project.
Great service
This Maker has consistently demonstrated excellence in craftsmanship and customer service.
I was approved to be in the Custom Made network of makers in August 2012. and only work exclusively through them.
I have 48 years experience as a hand manufacturing at the bench Goldsmith and Jeweler making each of the pieces you can see in my 9 page portfolio of listings once by hand, with macro close up photos sent daily through the transcript provided by Custom Made.
Many pieces pictured there have 5 extra photos of the piece at 5 different stages of being made.
I've never had to cast any thing, nor bought manufactured cast parts to assemble, to then call that "custom" or "customized"
My unique Goldsmith skills were acquired at 19 years of age in Boston. I was taught to be a Silversmith in Maine, NH, and Cape Cod, with Fire-sign Silversmiths. I was later offered an apprenticeship with Platinum worker, John Mulligan, of Mulligan & Hone Jewelers of Charles Street in Boston. I then passed up on a scholarship to go to the Boston Museum School of Fine Arts…figuring I could make a better living as a Goldsmith than as a Watercolorist.
In 1978 I opened Signet Custom Jewelers in Harvard Square Cambridge and was written-up in the April 1987 Boston Sunday Globe by Mopsey Strange Kennedy.
I operated it for 10 years until due to sudden family deaths I returned home to Ohio in 1988 when I went to work as a special order jeweler for a Tiffany Trade Account store near Cleveland, Schreibman Jewelers for 9 years, then I worked 13 years for King's of New Castle….
This diversity of experience and training is part of why my work is unlike other makers in this country who are limited to doing only wax casting and Cad-cam wax carving that also gets cast..
I am offering my customers a chance to commission a custom handmade artwork using the unique self-taught Goldsmith skills of drilling and sawing, called saw-piercing, that I uniquely combined with 3-D hand carving which I do with traditional palm push gravers, producing pieces that are more detailed, are impossible to cast, and pieces unlike any seen elsewhere….
I only use rolling mill hardened precious metal sheets that I then attach a exact-size millimeter graph paper drawing to. Then I drill, saw, and 3-D hand-carve, or sometimes I've made multi-piece, multi-metal, multi-color gold assemblages, then carve…taking photos of each step.
Each piece is a signed, quality stamped, original artwork, with time-dated progress photos sent daily through the Custom Made transcript .
By allowing you to see your piece being made by my unique Goldsmith process from drawings to completion, you get exactly what you want and assurance that your piece is the only one like it anywhere.
In July 2012, MJSA Journal did a 2-page article on me doing a 5-piece assembled and carved handmade replica of a 1-carat diamond ring from 1900 using 16 pictures I wrote captions for explaining my process.
Now I work for myself, I'm 67, retired, and am a "Freelance" Goldsmith…still using my original West German jewelers tools from 1969…a purely independent Cottage Industry, still pursuing my Goldsmith art and striving for the level of workmanship of the 'Old-Timers'…I'm getting closer with each piece.
I love the customer's ideas and requests that I have fun figuring out how to create from scratch…
Each always different from the last.
Testimonials
What people are saying
JMJon Margolick
For Jon's Necklace
Ken did a beautiful job, working closely with me from conception to execution. He took my design ideas and ran with them, using exactly the materials I asked for, adding his own touches (though never without talking them through with me ahead of time), and producing a treasure. She'll be proud to wear it for as long as we both live; I hope we'll get to pass it on to kids someday. I owe it to Ken.
Christy Sweet
For Wedding band to match ring
Ken was great to work with. He thoroughly communicated every step of the project's completion. The finished ring is beautiful and fits my wedding ring perfectly. I can't believe I have a custom made ring! Ken is an incredibly talented artist.
ZSZAch Sheram
For ZAch's necklace
Mr. Spencer was incredibly helpful and professional. His enthusiasm for the project rivaled my own. The final product was exactly what I requested and was finished well ahead of time and was shipped soon thereafter. The process was easy and enjoyable.
Emma Burkey
For Emma's Ring
Ken was amazing. He was quick, vocal and so professional. He made me feel so comfortable in his abilities and so very personable. When I received the package it was perfectly packaged, super safe and came with a cd of photographs of his progress. When I opened the ring I purchased for my future husband, tears came to my eyes because it perfectly matched the vintage ring we bought as my wedding band. If you ever want a meaning piece of jewelry made, please consider Ken. .
Rah Benton
For Rah's Ring
Ken Spencer went above and beyond all my expectations with this ring. He is the only artist that not only provided me with drawings of my idea, but he went further to include some ideas of his own, which I LOVED!! He kept me fully updated, almost daily, of his progress the moment I accepted his proposal, and he even finished it a week early. If ever I need another custom piece of jewelry, I will consult with Mr. Spencer first.
Information
Maker Policies
Shipping Policy
Area served: US, Canada Shipping Methods: USPS Priority Mail Signature required fully insured
Maker Policy
Policy is to have item returned to me to make any changes necessary then return it ASAP to customer....but since my customer see's every stage of development of their piece through this CustomMade transcript, and can correspond to me to make any alterations they think they would like made, in 47 years as a goldsmith doing only the MTO pieces seen in my portfolio I've never had to take an item back nor refund money.....
