Today, Patrick is a jack-of-all-trades. Not only does he design, but he also sells, uses CAD, milling, 3D printing, stone setting, fabrication, and more. For him, working under pressure is a daily thing; especially on days he bezel sets a $10,000 Tanzanite!
“It can be very technical and challenging,” says Patrick, talking about creating special jewelry for someone. “But, it can also be very emotionally rewarding.” One of the pieces he remembers most is a mother’s ring he created for a mother who had recently lost a child. “To her, that ring meant the world.”
Another neat fact: Patrick has made quite a bit of jewelry for professional athletes. He once made a pendant for his favorite team’s running back. When the running back was interviewed on TV after winning a playoff game, he was wearing the pendant Patrick made. “It was quite a rush to see that, especially after a playoff win,” says Patrick.
During his free time, Patrick loves to work out, and even though he’s not great at it, he also likes to play tennis. He also spends his free time working on his Jeep Wrangler. Whether it’s jewelry or cars he enjoys working with his hands.
When asked about his favorite part of the job, “it’s all about the reveal,” he says. “Seeing a customer’s face light up when they see the jewelry that I’ve worked so hard to create is indescribable.”
Here are some of Patrick’s past creations:
A customer brought in several different design ideas that she liked and Patrick combined them into one fabulous piece.
These earrings are made of sapphires and tsavorite garnet that graduate in color from yellow to green. These took him about 6 months to create because it was very difficult to get the proper sizes and colors of each gemstone.
When creating this 12.75 CTTW eternity band, he had to print the ring using a 3D printer with the diamonds in place just to get the correct finger size and to make sure that it wasn’t uncomfortable for his customer to wear.
This was the first ring Patrick created when he started at Dianna Rae Jewelry. He says, “They had three princess-cut stones and wanted to create something that would be easier to sell than a traditional three-stone ring.” When the store finally opened in August 2015, it was the first piece to sell!
Which is your favorite Patrick Dobbs piece? Tell us in the comment section below.