A professional metalsmith and jeweler with more than 22 years of custom jewelry experience has opened a studio in Blawnox.
Dan Jacko of Verona opened Harp and Hound Jewelry on Dec. 7 at 238½ Freeport Road, the former site of Marlene Harris Collection.
Jacko designs and creates artisan and handcrafted jewelry. He also sells jewelry made by local artists.
“I want my pieces to last a long time, to be the modern heirlooms for future generations,” said Jacko of his his first brick-and-mortar venture.
When the pandemic forced a lockdown, Jacko used the extended time at home as a catalyst to pursue his own workshop and business.
“I was the guy in the back, and someone else owned the store,” he said. “I realized then that I really didn’t want to go back to the same business.”
Jacko offers restoration and repair services and books private appointments to design custom jewelry.
He specializes in Celtic design, in honor of his Irish heritage and his love of history.
The name of the business is a nod to Jacko’s Irish lineage, wife Laura’s harp-playing skills and their pet hound, Loki.
Jacko always considered himself an art kid and loved to draw. Today, he uses sketchbooks to draw his designs.
“I always knew that I wanted to be a working artist,” he said.
Born in Forest Hills and raised in Murrysville, Jacko graduated from Franklin Regional High School in 2000.
His mother’s strong Irish heritage and her maiden surname of McQuillen inspired him from an early age.
A post-high school backpacking trip to Europe that included a visit to Ireland proved to be influential for Jacko.
“That ended up being more formative than I realized at the time. Ireland is very well known for its jewelry and Celtic knot work, and I was looking in the jewelry store windows there,” Jacko said.
A jeweler since 2001, Jacko earned a degree in fine arts with a concentration in metalsmithing and a minor in art history from Edinboro University in 2004.
“I realized that every town, city across the world needs metalsmiths. It’s one of the world’s oldest professions. There’s security and stability there,” he said.
Jacko holds certificates from the New Approach School in gemsetting, hand engraving and platinum. His jewelry is made with various metals, including platinum, gold and silver.
His creative process includes the centuries-old tradition of lost-wax casting, a technique that has been used to produce jewelry for thousands of years.
Lost-wax casting creates a prototype using metal (usually copper) or wax before molten metal is poured into a mold.
Jacko chose Blawnox for his studio because of an ongoing working relationship with the owner of the former Marlene Harris Collection, which closed this year.
“I told her I would love to take over the space and continue the tradition of a jewelry location,” said Jacko, 42. “She had a lot of antique and estate jewelry, and we clicked in the regard of history of jewelry.”
Jacko’s wife of 12 years helps with marketing and social media.
“He works with people without judgment and with any budget. Honoring things that are really sentimental to them is really important to us. I love that, and it’s really important. Everyone deserves to own affordable works of art that will last a really long time,” Laura Jacko said. “We try and focus on bringing in local artisans and jewelers because it’s important to make our inventory locally focused.”
Pittsburgh-area fine jewelers currently featured at Harp and Hound include Paul Michael Bierker of Geek Jewelry and Rachael Morgan Jewelry.
“Customers that have stopped by have been curious about the business. I wanted something that kind of evoked an Irish pub, and it definitely has that vibe,” Dan Jacko said.
Jacko’s pieces start at $50 for small necklaces and feature unique knotwork designs and intricate details.
None of the jewelry work is sent out, and everything is done by hand at Harp and Hound, including repairs.
Laura also stressed the importance of sentimental jewelry pieces that may not be of great monetary value, but are still in need of repair or design.
“It’s important to a lot of people because jewelry can be sentimental, and this is a judgment-free zone,” she said.
Harp and Hound Jewelry
238½ Freeport Road, Blawnox
harpandhoundjewelry.com