In the heart of the Motor City, you’ll find a new jewelry manufacturing firm with an exceptional combination of skills and deep roots in the jewelry industry. A full-service jewelry manufacturer with a focus on high-volume die striking, American Jewelry Components (AJC) formed earlier this year to service a growing need for U.S.-made, high quality, precious metal jewelry components and findings.
At the helm of AJC are a two skilled jewelry industry veterans: Linus Drogs, president of AU Enterprises in Berkeley, Michigan, a contract caster that has been in business since 1987 and Richard Frederick, former owner of Keystone Findings in Telford, Pennsylvania
The owners stress that their company is not a start-up, but rather a cooperative effort among three very experienced jewelry industry leaders. “In addition to the depth of jewelry manufacturing experience we bring from the casting, die-striking, and tooling sides of the trade, we have at our disposal a talented workforce of skilled machinists in the Detroit area who are nimble in the application of their knowledge to a variety of industries,” said Drogs.
Drogs attests to the agility of the local workforce. “Detroit was the home of automotive manufacturing in the early 20th century—and while much of the labor moved offshore, American automotive factories here are expanding,” he says. “Die-striking is a process used in the automotive industry that crosses over into the jewelry industry in high-volume applications.”
“We want to see the jewelry manufacturing that has been outsourced overseas come back to the U.S. in a real way,” adds Frederick. “There is a need in the domestic jewelry marketplace for sourcing well-made precious metal components from U.S. manufacturers. The faster turnaround time, exceptional quality, and competitive pricing we can offer, coupled with the ease of communication and relationship building that happens when you aren’t halfway across the world, is critical.”
The owners’ collective goal is to meet the demand for U.S.-made jewelry components from American jewelry manufacturers who are looking for ways to bring all of their manufacturing back to the states. AJC currently offers contract manufacturing, with a focus on die-striking, in gold, silver, platinum, and palladium.