Chris Ploof Studio is Pawtucket’s ‘lord of the rings,’ designs, creates jewelry

Denise Perreault

01/15/2011

A JEWEL: Chris Ploof founded his business, Chris Ploof Studio, in the basement of a house in 2001. By 2004, the company was in a 6,000-square-foot space in Pawtucket. /

With apologies to author J.R.R. Tolkien, Chris Ploof is Rhode Island’s “lord of the rings,” although he would prefer to be called “the king of alternative metals.”
Owner of Chris Ploof Studio, he designs and creates jewelry, mostly wedding and engagement rings, in his Pawtucket studio, using the usual materials you would find at any jeweler’s shop, such as gold, platinum and sterling silver, along with some of the most unusual substances in the world – literally.
Consider, for example, the work he does with meteorites, actual pieces of ancient iron that fell from outer space to the earth. On his website (www.chrisploof.com) is a gallery of items, mostly wedding rings, he has crafted by combining high-karat gold and platinum with carefully chosen pieces of the Gibeon Meteorite, found in Namibia, Africa.
Like ivory, meteorite metal is rare and regulated worldwide, but Ploof has managed to find a few dealers who can obtain it for him. And as he does with all the material he uses, Ploof said, he “extensively” tests it to make sure the unusual substance is safe for those with allergies, for instance.
Customers find meteorite rings unique and exciting because “you are wearing a piece of something that is literally four-and-a-half billion years old,” Ploof said. “That is the magic we try to create.” He flatly dismissed the idea of following trends. “We do not follow trends. We make trends.”
He is one of the few artisans in the world, he said, to practice the “rare” Japanese method of mokume gane, where as many as 35 separate layers of colored metals are heated, twisted and manipulated to create beautiful, unusual patterns, resembling the grain of wood. Mokume gane means “wood-pattern metal” in Japanese. On his website, he boasts that he is the only ring maker in the world to discover a way to make mokume gane rings that are seamless. He also makes a limited number of mokume gane earrings and pendants.
Ploof uses old-fashioned pencil and paper to hand-draw his designs, later transferred onto a computer for greater flexibility during the production process. “My best ideas usually come early in the morning,” he said, ideas he finalizes through daily discussions with his staff. He does custom work and makes pieces for sale in retail stores, with the price of his rings ranging from roughly $750 to $7,000. Ploof, 40, was born and raised in Sterling, Mass., a small town about 50 miles north of Worcester, and as a youngster would visit Old Sturbridge Village. He was fascinated by the craftspeople at work, watching them for hours on end as they worked with rudimentary tools to create pieces both practical and beautiful. The experience was quite “influential,” he said. “It was something I always liked, I can’t explain why.”
After serving in the Army, he went to work repairing bicycles for many years, working in a shop near his hometown. In the winter, when there were not a lot of bikes to be fixed, he had extra time on his hands, along with “very understanding employers,” he said, so he began taking jewelry-making classes at the Worcester Center for Crafts in that city. He worked at the bike shop and made rings on the side, making “more money” at the latter pursuit, he said.
In 2001, he started his own business, Chris Ploof Studio, on a part-time basis, working out of the basement of a house in the Worcester area. As he progressed and his clientele increased, he soon needed more equipment and that’s when the disadvantages of working in a cellar became apparent. “Getting those large machines down the bulkhead steps, it was not good,” he said.
So he eventually moved his business into a refurbished mill in Pawtucket, taking up about 6,000 square feet of space and, leaving the bike shop, he converted his company into a full-time operation in 2004. He had checked out other locations in Boston, Worcester, Mass., and Portland, Maine.
And although he acknowledged that “Rhode Island is a very difficult place to do business,” he came here due in large part, he said, to the state’s rich history in the jewelry industry. He has been fascinated by history since those days of his youth when he would watch the Old Sturbridge Village craftspeople at work.
For the time being, Ploof has no major plans to change his business. He is quite satisfied specializing in wedding rings because “people are always getting married,” he said, “and right now, we’re in a terrible economy, but we are growing.” •

COMPANY PROFILE
Chris Ploof Studio
TYPE OF BUSINESS: Designs and creates jewelry, specializing in wedding rings
LOCATION: Mineral Spring Avenue,
Pawtucket
EMPLOYEES: 7
YEAR FOUNDED: 2001
ANNUAL SALES: WND