A Summer of Growth at Alx&Co.
We’ve had a busy summer of growth at our little Studio, and we wanted to share some team updates, investments, and announcements with all our clients! From growing our team and investing in new skills to renovating our Studio, this summer has been all about making more room for good work.
New Team Members
We’re most excited to share that we have hired some fantastic new team members for our crew! We’ve grown our bench jeweler team through our apprenticeship program here in the workshop, taking on two new apprentices in the Spring and now ending the summer with one full-time bench jeweler, Atticus.
Atticus initially joined our workshop as an Apprentice during our Spring 2026 Workshop Apprenticeship term and now serves as a full-time bench jeweler, supporting Will and Tim with casting preparation, ring resizing, and other technical tasks. After graduating from high school, Atticus served in the US Air Force and later earned an Associate’s Degree in Fine Arts from Northern Virginia Community College. With an eye for detail and a skillful hand, Atticus has quickly become an important part of the technical work happening in our workshop.
We’ve also brought on a second Bench Jeweler Apprentice and Marketing Coordinator, Natalia. With a strong background in digital marketing and storytelling, Natalia serves as our Marketing Coordinator and also moonlights as a Bench Jeweler Apprentice in our busy workshop. She graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in English Language & Literature, with a focus on Creative Writing, and brings that background into both the storytelling side of our work and her growing bench skills. We’re excited to have her learning the craft while also helping us shape how we share our work with clients.
Lastly, we’re welcoming a new friendly face to our front desk reception team: Julia. Joining our team in the Fall of 2026 after graduating from VCU’s School of Fine Arts with a Bachelor’s Degree in Theatre Performance (yes, we’re a magnet for VCU Theatre majors, apparently!), she grew up in Northern Virginia and has also worked at several local restaurants, so she’s a great resource for dinner recommendations in the neighborhood. Julia provides a warm, welcoming reception for our clients and assists with scheduling and general inquiries.
Please help us welcome our new team members as you stop by our Studio!
Investing in our Workshop
In Fall of 2025, we sent bench jeweler Will to engraving school where he learned the ins and outs of hand-push engraving. We have spent hours and hours perfecting this skill with him over the year, and the detail and beauty of this work speak for themselves. We began officially offering in-house hand-engraving services this year, and as Will’s skills have continued to develop we can now offer this work more regularly and in greater variety.
This means we can now offer fully on-site hand-engraving services, including pattern formation, inside-band engraving, and signet work. We’re also working to have more of Will’s engraving on display in the Studio, so clients can see the detail and craftsmanship in person and get a better sense of what’s possible. Investing in our team’s talent and reinvigorating these traditional techniques is a true joy, and we’re excited to keep offering this service to clients looking to add more personalization to their pieces.
Renovations: Work, work, work
Over the summer, we renovated our on-site workshop to better accommodate our growing team. The space was entirely closed for a short time to give our amazing construction crew time to spread out and work on the space, but we also spent plenty of time working around half-finished cabinets and trying to find our tools.
Renovating an active, busy workshop is incredibly difficult, but we pulled it off. We’re thrilled to have added another bench, giving us more room for our growing team and apprentices to learn and work alongside one another. We’ve also added a few geeky new tools, including overhead cameras that allow us to better share and demonstrate bench work as we continue investing in the training and development of our team.
The renovation wasn’t just about adding more space, though. Creating a better structure for the workshop has helped us work more efficiently together, both behind the bench and between the workshop and the Studio. As our team continues to grow, having a space that supports teaching, collaboration, and the day-to-day movement between our front-of-house and workshop teams has become increasingly important. We’re excited to have a workshop that can grow with us
It’s been a busy season of growth, and we’re excited to keep building on everything we’ve completed this Summer. Thank you for being part of our Studio as our team, skills, and space continuously grow!
