Jay Munro started making wire jewelry in 1974, working with Richard Moore, proprietor of Golden Strand Jewelry. Richard's stock in trade was gold filled solderless wire jewelry and opals. Jay started by making a ring for a piece of scrimshaw. Since he picked it up pretty quickly, Richard brought Jay on as an assistant. Richard's ring's was done with straight wire backs, the way that most solderless wire craftsmen had made them for years.
Jay decided to take a different tact, to braid the backs of his rings. Starting with rings, Jay branched out to something else Richard, and most other solderless wire craftsmen didn't do, bracelets. Jay's first bracelet was done with square gold filled wire, but it proved to be less than satisfactory. After trying to get Richard to use round wire, to no avail, Jay left Golden Strand to start his own business, making custom sterling silver bracelets.
The main sales method of Jay's bracelets, rings and earrings was word of mouth. Following Richard's lead, Jay sold at craft shows and flea markets. While in community college Jay used jewelry making to make expense money and meet girls. When down on funds, Jay would sit in the cafeteria with a cup of coffee and make jewelry. This is a tradition he still does today. Using only hand tools for 99% of the work, everything Jay needs can be carried in a small tool case. Since making the jewelry is very much a performance art as the product is a piece of art, it never fails to get generate questions and conversations when Jay works in a restaurant, coffee shop or on the train during a commuting. During the course of a business trip, Jay was making a bracelet on a plane trip back from Seattle. Early in the trip, a flight attendant asked what he was doing. Jay explained about making a custom bracelet, and the flight attendant told him that because she had extremely thin wrists, she had never had a bracelet that fit properly. Jay said he could make one for her, and measured her wrist. Putting away the one he was working, Jay created a custom bracelet for the young woman. By the time the plane landed in NY, the flight attendant had a custom bracelet and Jay had another satisfied customer.
