My jewelry bench is an antique oak rolltop desk with history.

A jeweler sits at her bench staring at the stones and raw metal that will become a creation to wear. The best benches are wooden. They are warm and hammerable. I have worked for years at both a traditional jeweler's benches at schools and art studios and at my wooden dining room table but I have never owned a real jeweler's bench. Nothing felt like it fit the space in my studio or inspired me to work..until now.

My parents bought this desk when I was a child in San Antonio, Texas from an antique dealer. It came back to California with us when we returned to our home state and my dad kept it in his office. He worked from it for years before replacing it with a larger one. It came to me in college. I wrote term papers on it and stored the mail on it. When it got too messy and cluttered with school work, I rolled the top down and closed it all away. Since then it has lived in my dad's storage. I forgot about it.

Recently I started thinking about benches. I really needed one. My dining room table was getting too messy, dusty, gemstone filled. Then I remembered rolling away the mess with the old rolltop desk. I called my dad. The most resourceful jewelers make their own tools and repurpose the old to suit themselves. Did he still have it? He did, and it was looking for a home.

I waited until the weekend then I drove out to his farm in Winters, CA and there it was, all plastic wrapped and stashed in the barn, maybe waiting for me. My dad and I pulled it out only to discover that a rat had been calling it home for quite some time. He wasn't home anymore so we dumped out his nest, cleaned it up and broke it down to load in my truck. It breaks down for easy travel. The rolltop separates from the bottom and the drawers all come out. It's a good thing too because it barely fit in the truck.

The old rolltop desk is home with me again and it's living another life. I had to wash it out a few more times and air it in the sun for a few days before bringing it inside. Those rats are stinky little guys. But now it smells like wood and creativity and history......and it fits the space.