Josh Kline
Josh Kline, owner and head jeweler of Ouray Silversmiths in Montrose CO, began his silversmithing career in 1997 as an apprentice at Ross Coppelman Goldsmiths in E. Dennis, Massachusetts. While learning various techniques in silver and high karat gold, he also began making awards for Tagin Design Resources. The diversity of the projects in which he was involved granted him the opportunity to work on metals of varying scale. After departing Coppelman’s, Josh worked as a bench jeweler in Carson City, Nevada at The Jewelry Bench. Here he added to and refined many of his fabrication, stone setting, design, and repair skills. In 2006, Josh relocated to Ouray, Colorado to work with his mother Melanie Kline at the recently opened Ouray Silversmiths. At the time, Ouray Silversmiths was a single location business with only Josh and Melanie involved in the jewelry design and fabrication. While Head Jeweler for Ouray Silversmiths, Josh participated in the training of several apprentices, assisted in the expansion of the business to a second location, and began to study the art of hand engraving. In February of 2012, Josh officially purchased the business from Melanie. He continues to grow the business through his dedication to quality, precision, and beauty. Many of Melanie’s original designs are part of the core inventory of the store, but the selection is ever evolving as Josh’s influence, style, and ever expanding set of skills are incorporated.
Jilian Keenan
Jilian began her journey at the Gemological Institute of America in 2009. Since then she has become a Graduate of Diamonds which allows her to grade diamonds in most color categories. She is also trained to determine whether diamonds are natural, treated or synthetic. And with her Applied Jewelry Professional Diploma she has earned a huge range of skills that she uses to help any and all of our clients as they find the pieces that are perfect for them. Jilian has managed the Montrose location since its inception. An honorary member of the Kline family, Jilian first began to work for Ouray Silversmiths at the age of 16, in Ouray, after expressing a strong desire to learn everything she could about jewelry. Over the past years, in addition to her studies at the GIA, Jilian has learned many bench skills, improved her skills at beadwork, and built a strong rapport with the community through her unwavering professionalism, kindness, and constantly expanding knowledge base.
