In a few short weeks, the winners of the 2012 Saul Bell Design Award Competition will be announced at a gala dinner during JCK in Las Vegas. We're excited to celebrate all the talented winners of the competition, and to set the stage for the big event, we'd like to share a little[...]
Ever wonder why your order for however-many ounces of wire is always a little over or under what you ordered? The simple answer is: tolerances. Tolerances are developed to fit manufacturing capabilities and, while it is possible—even standard—to have tight (close) tolerances,[...]
Recently our website underwent a complete makeover, and one of the coolest updates, in my opinion, are the product review tabs! As a member of the machine operator team, I make some of this stuff, which means that you, the customer, have a direct line to me, the operator. Your pr[...]
Here at Rio, we’ve created an empowered workplace operating within a common set of principles. So we’ve got a challenging yet supportive environment sharing a common set of values, but what about the tools that make our culture work? Effective feedback is among our most usefu[...]
The Principles are Rio Grande’s common value system; the basis for our everyday behavior and decision-making. By using the Principles as our footing, we make the right decision far more consistently. . .
At the beginning of May I turned in my box cutter for a T-shaped Allen wrench. I said goodbye to the forklift and hello to the coiler, the hammered ear wire machine, and the eye-pin slider. Let me be plain: I transferred from the Receiving Team to the Machine Operator Team. . .[...]
Each individual at Rio must make his or her own choice to be empowered. What we can do is provide an environment that nurtures and supports empowered associates. And so, a number of ideas and sources coalesced into a list of four items critical to achieving empowerment. . .[...]
At Rio, we started an adventure seven years ago to address the health and wellness of our associates and their families. It started as a program to reduce our rising medical insurance costs and, in the beginning, was a classic first attempt at a new program: It took some time to [...]
My grandfather, Saul Bell, lived to be 96 years old and he came to work at Rio Grande every day until less than two weeks before he died. A few years after his passing, a group of associates at Rio Grande presented my family with a video documenting memories of Saul, from both as[...]
Did you know that your order from Rio Grande may have been packed by a guy who works in our machine shop? Or that the tiny 2˝ x 2˝ bag that your findings came in might have been labeled by one of our very own business coaches? How about that guy on the YouTube videos—Mark Ne[...]
Occasionally someone asks me, “What’s it like to work in Technical Support at Rio Grande?” Usually my answer is easily summed up by the big grin on my face. Being part of the Tech Support Team is really cool. The job may not be what what one thinks of as a typical tech supp[...]
Shortly after I was first hired here at Rio, I experienced my first Rio Associate Arts and Crafts Fair. I was so excited to see what kind of jewelry my creative colleagues were making and selling and was amazed by the beautiful craftsmanship and uniqueness of it all. But, there w[...]
In the previous three parts of my series on Designing a Jewelry Collection, I've talked about what a collection is, design principles, designing for your customer and the … [Read More...] about Designing a Collection part 4
Manhattan jewelry designer and entrepreneur Sandy Baker is the owner and creative force behind Sandy Baker Art Collection. She claims she has been in the business for … [Read More...] about Influencers in Jewelry Design: Sandy Baker
