Making jewels spakle Bucksport goldsmiths make their mark in stone

William and Marian Fretz are refugees from “the other Maine,” moving north seeking to escape the summer masses. Yet their devotees have followed the veteran goldsmiths to their new Bucksport home.

For 30 years, the two have earned a golden reputation as the creators of gorgeous one-of-a-kind and limited-production jewelry pieces. After about a quarter-century in Kennebunkport, they opted to return to Marian’s hometown. (They still have works at the Mast Cove Gallery in Kennebunkport, and William goes down there once a week.)

“It’s been fun being back in Bucksport,” Marian said. “I’m enjoying it.”

The couple is known for designing in the styles of the ancient Greeks and the Etruscans – forerunners of the Romans whose urban civilization in Italy reached its height in 6 B.C. The Fretzes’ works are simple but bold and wearable.

“Greek art is so influential in our society,” Marian said. “They were a people that did it right, and we emulate that.”

Recently, William collaborated with his 25-year-old son, Jordan, to design and make a mesh bracelet in 22-karat gold which won first place for “overall design originality … and craftsmanship” in the 2000 Maine Jewelers Association. Jordan is a jeweler in Portland, Ore., while his 27-year-old brother, William III

(aka Fox), works with his parents in the Bucksport shop.

The Fretzes create their jewelry by casting in molds or by fabricating with metal or a combination of both. First, they sit down with a client to get ideas about what he or she wants.

“They should know what they want the piece of jewelry to do,” William said. “Is it for every day, or for special occasions? Do they prefer symmetry or asymmetry in jewelry?”

They work up sketches, then produce a model from wax or metal. After client approval, the final piece is made, then refined using buffs and files. It can take several days from concept to completion.

William said he enjoys “the design and the process. Our strong point is working up sketches and making pieces from scratch. We don’t job anything out.”

Pieces start around $50 for sterling silver and $120 for 18 karat gold. The cost of a gem employed in a piece can actually overwhelm the price of the metal, William said. If a customer allows the Fretzes to use a design in a limited production, he or she receives a break in the price.

Why should a person buy from a jeweler rather than a boutique or department store?

“The aesthetics and the craftsmanship is much higher,” William said. “Most jewelry is mass-produced, more than people realize. Also we can sit down and talk to people about what they really want.”

William and Marian got their start as a couple in the Bucksport area, after meeting at a summer camp in Orland in the early 1960s. They continued to date off and on after that.

William, who is from a small town in Bucks County, Pa., began creating jewelry as a junior in high school. He went on to study at the School for American Craftsmen at the Rochester (N.Y.) Institute of Technology, then taught at the Cleveland Institute of Art.

Marian, whose graduated with a degree in marketing from the University of Maine, and William married in 1970, the same year that they opened their first shop in a Philadelphia suburb. They remained in the Greater Philly area until 1974, when they moved to Kennebunkport.

They chose to leave the southern Maine town not just because of the crowds, but because they needed more work space, which was hard to find in Kennebunkport. They found the right setup at 10 Elm St. in Bucksport, although the carriage house and home definitely needed work.

Over a year, the carriage house was picked up and moved back and sideways, so a new foundation and steel beams could be placed underneath. The building itself required extensive renovation and all new windows were put in before the structure was moved back atop the foundation. A little addition was built to connect the carriage house to the home. Fretz Goldsmiths finally opened last summer.

The shop itself has a handful of cases featuring jewelry the Fretzes have created. In the back of the room are many of the tools they use to weave their metal magic. There’s also workshop space in the basement of the carriage house.

Both Marian and Fox are taking a gemology course on the Internet, which they will have to finish with a residency in Carlsbad, Calif. In addition, William and Marian are metal sculptors. William made a piece shaped like a totem pole for Paul Newman, to give to the director of Newman’s children’s camp. Sculpture amounts to about 10 to 15 percent of their business.

“Timewise, it’s incredibly inefficient for us,” William said.

The Fretzes are planning a retrospective show in their shop next year, of pieces they couldn’t bear to part with through the years.

In the meantime, buyers will continue to flock to the couple’s new location.

“We’ve been busy here,” William said. “It doesn’t take much to keep us busy, only two or three pieces a week.”

Fretz Goldsmiths is open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. For more information, call 1-877-469-2700.