Rio Grande Albuquerque Facility Tour

Rio Grande has been providing the jewelry industry with tools, findings, equipment, and finished jewelry since 1944. On their website, their mission statement reads as follows - "Rio Grande exists to serve bench jewelers, jewelry designers, retail jewelers, jewelry manufacturers and educators. We have one goal—to make their lives easier through exemplary service and comprehensive partnership." Reflecting their continuing efforts to meet this goal, Rio Grande maintained a booth at the 2025 JCK show in Las Vegas, the first year that they have done so. There, they were happy to discuss their current offerings, as well as hint at some new additions to their product line. 

President Arien Gessner was kind enough to invite us to tour their facility in Albuquerque, New Mexico to give Ganoksin readers an in depth look at how many of the products are made. Additionally, we spoke with Vice President of Sales and Marketing Dennis Claspell to get detailed insight into what the company offers and Matt Anderson, the Human Resources Director, who showed us around the facility. 

Interview with Vice President Dennis Claspell

Before going in to see the production area of the Rio Grande facility, Vice President Dennis Claspell sat with us to take a close look at the offerings of the company, get a sneak peek of some exiting new products set to be debuted in August, and explain some of their community outreach initiatives.

First, some context. Rio Grande is a U.S. based company that provides goods to American buyers. About 80% of all products they sell are made domestically, many in the Albuquerque facility, which has a number of benefits for the company and its customer base. Firstly, they can be sure that those who participate in the supply chain work in a safe environment and are properly compensated. Also, in this current age where international tariffs are wreaking havoc with established trade and familiar costs, the domestic products are spared that concern. This allows jewelers to have peace of mind that Rio Grande prices for many of their products will remain as stable as possible.

While Rio Grande is firmly entrenched in the U.S., Claspell explained that the business was acquired by the Richline Group, a Berkshire Hathaway Company, in 2012. This, Claspell explained, has been nothing but advantageous because it connects them to other international Richline companies in the jewelry space. A significant boon of this arrangement is that it permits the sister companies to exchange goods at a low cost. This allows Rio Grande access to exotic tools, machines, and more, and offer them to their American customers.

Claspell walked us through the reasoning that Rio Grande executives use when they consider adding to their product line. "First, we ask if we can make the item in the U.S. If we can't, we then see if we can get it from one of our international Richline sister companies." This model has clearly been successful. Claspell said, "in recent years we have been able to make finished jewelry and findings in fine gold and give stores access to products they did not previously have access to."

When asked what sets Rio Grande apart from its sister Richline companies (and, for that matter, other non-affiliated jewelry supply businesses), Claspell said that it is the fact that Rio Grande caters to the individual buyer, not massive companies. As such, they proudly have no minimums when it comes to orders. Jewelers are able to acquire whatever materials they need, even if it is just a single item. In fact, depending on the item, should a buyer require more than a few dozen, they may have to go to another Richline company. Customers can be sure that the quality of all products matches the high standards of giant brands that other Richline companies sell to, such as Macy's and Kohls. 

Always keeping the individual artisan, retailer, and manufacturer in mind, Claspell said that he and the whole administrative team try to maximize inherent "value" for their customers. This, he says, goes beyond low prices and the ability to place small orders. It also has to do with maximizing convenience for the user, saving them valuable time during the fabrication and selling processes, ensuring all items have consistently good quality, making it easy to add personal touches to jewelry and display items, and offering quick shipping. 

Rio Grande Customers Can Expect New Products and Services Soon!

Speaking about upcoming products, Claspell listed three goals: "We continue building up our bridal offerings, shoring up our general product line, and identifying and acquiring the best sellers of our sister companies. We are also very excited to launch both our Precision Diamonds line and the new Jewelry Builder on August 6^th of this year." 

Addressing Precision Diamonds, Claspell explained that it is a line of highly calibrated natural and diamonds. The majority are melee-sized, but there will be some larger stones as well. Gessner said that putting this line together required a great deal of effort - "This is something that we have been working towards for years, but real progress has only been made in the last year."

Claspell said, "This solves the problem of non-calibrated melee which are usually sold by weight, not cut or depth. Right now, jewelers need to order dozens of stones to find just a few whose dimensions match. Increasing even further the inherent value to jewelers, our Precision Diamonds will allow them to create a single CAD design that can be reused an infinite number of times. Right now, artisans may have to spend hours creating individual CAD files for a specific group of stones that accounts for the unique irregularities. Our stones have matched weight, cut and depth so you can use the same design with no modifications for multiple production runs."

Claspell acknowledged that creating a line of diamonds calibrated by weight, cut, and depth requires a bit more work. However, he was proud to say that Rio Grande's Precision Diamonds "are almost the same price as unsorted stones." Gessner explained that the company's ability to offer such carefully cut and sorted stones for a low price is because they are part of the Richline family - "They have a team of one hundred and fifty cutters in Mumbai, India. They facet stones for us specifically which cuts out middlemen and allows Rio Grande to offer unparallelled low prices to our customers."

Claspell predicts that the streamlining of the supply chain and strict calibration of stones will fundamentally change how jewelers work with melee. Buyers will be able to choose from the classic round outline as well as fancy shapes including emerald, pear, marquise, oval, princess, radiant, cushion, and baguette.

Moving forward, Rio Grande customers can also expect to see calibrated colored stones such as corundum. This process will be a bit more involved because it adds a fourth factor that must be considered - color. 

Launching at the same time, Rio Grande executives are equally excited about their new "Jewelry Builder". Claspell said that this is a database of standard jewelry designs that can be customized and personalized with ease. "This feature," he stated, "is a tool that is intended for jewelers. Not end-users. Jewelers can personalize anything with this software. They can choose the metal as well as the size/shape/gemstone type of the primary stone and all secondary stones. Right now, we have ring templates available and that will be expanded in the future to cover more types of jewelry."

Clear Direction for Growth

Claspell feels that the upcoming trajectory for Rio Grande is clear - "the future of the company is in customization and personalization. Our services let retailers create and modify jewelry, display items, and promotional materials without having to pay a premium. We are also continuing to search around the world for new tools to aid our customers. This process will include ongoing analysis of our sister companies' offerings."

A Vision of the Future

On the Rio Grande website, the Rio Knowledge Hub tab gives readers access to videos, podcasts, and articles which examine jewelry making techniques, tools, attributes of different gems and metals, and more. Additionally, the Community tab will lead to you to a list of jewelry making classes - some virtual, others in-person. Claspell explained that some of the instructors are Rio Grande employees while others are established teachers from accredited jewelry schools.

Claspell stressed that no matter what tools, findings, and jewelry Rio Grande offers, it means nothing if there is no future generation of jewelers. "Education is a big part of who we are. Our Rio for Schools Education Coordinator Mark Nelson does a lot with high school students. We want to raise a new generation of jewelers because the number of skilled artisans out there is decreasing, and the knowledge base is being lost with them. If we can help someone who wants to be in the industry, we want to support them. They are our customers of the future."

Being a Rio Grande Employee

It was now time to speak to Matt Anderson, the Human Resources Director, to talk about the Rio Grande employee experience, how the Albuquerque facility operates on a day-to-day basis, and what they make. 

Anderson's enthusiasm about his job was apparent from the start, and he proudly explained that he has been with the company for twenty-six years. To illustrate Rio Grande's commitment to its workforce, Anderson spoke about his personal history with the company.

Anderson came in as business team coach to help marketing and accounting teams within the organization accomplish their specific tasks. He also helped plan out schedules for manufacturing which led to his promotion to Director of Manufacturing, where he focused on working with individuals rather than the details associated with the physical labor. As the company began to focus on customization and fine jewelry about five years ago, Anderson felt that his job had evolved to require someone with more manufacturing experience. He recalled being surprised at the reaction of upper management when he relayed this sentiment. Rather than lose a long-time team member and his "operational knowledge and experience", they worked with him to find a new position that he felt more comfortable in. HR Director was a perfect fit. 

Anderson said that his story is just one example of how Rio Grande strives to make their working environment feel like a bonded community. To that point, he explained that twenty-five percent of the workforce in Albuquerque (a number that is just shy of three hundred) have been with the company for over twenty years. 

In the hallway outside of Anderson's office, there is a table set up with a puzzle for employees to spend a moment working on as they pass it throughout the day. This one is nearly complete.

Before walking into the production area, Anderson addressed the sustainability efforts that the company takes not only in terms of energy production but also their commitment to being a transparent and eco-friendly operation. The facility is powered by a solar array system that, at the time of construction, was the largest such installation in all of New Mexico. They report power usage throughout the day to Richline so that the parent company can compile and publish reports regarding their sustainability efforts. Anderson said that this system not only environmentally friendly, it also significantly lessens their overall costs and that the "return on investment" of the array happened even more quickly than anticipated. Anderson laughed saying that most employees feel that the biggest benefit of having the solar array is that they have a covered parking lot shielded from the searing Albuquerque sun!

There is a second environmental factor that the company takes very seriously - protecting the land from accumulation of environmental waste. Anderson explained that the plot on which the facility is built was once an airport that operated in a time when environmental laws were less strict. As a result, there are some chemicals lingering in the ground - "We want to be as clean as possible to avoid adding further chemicals to the land and not trigger any sort of chemical interaction. We do things like limiting how much acetone we use. Using water-based cutting fluids. Also, we do not do any refining or powder coating on-site."

Where the Action Happens

In addition to assembling some of their machines, there are four types of products that the Albuquerque facility generates. First is lost-wax castings, a technique by which a mold is made for individual components including beads, chains, signet rings, and bracelets and formed with the desired metal. Secondly, they execute stamping and forming which, in Anderson's words, "takes plain milled wire and makes it fancy". This wire can be sold as is or made into individual earring components and jump rings (the company sells fifteen million annually). They also have jewelers who can create finished jewelry. Lastly, the facility can produce customized display and advertising materials. 

Anderson took us through the building following roughly the same path that products take. First is the inventory room where raw wire and sheets of gold, copper, bronze, and silver are kept. Anderson also pointed out a supply of "ancient bronze" which Rio Grande makes themselves, consisting of 90% copper and 10% tin. This, Anderson said, "is the only way for us to be sure that the product contains the right metals in the right proportions."  

The first step in lost-wax casting is the creation of a wax tree where the wax is formed into the shape of the desired component. Each tree has multiple branches with multiple components, allowing for bulk production. 

Once trees are assembled, they are sent to a casting room where the molds are made.

The wax trees are placed upside down into one of the flasks shown in the image above. Then the container is filled with investment powder. The whole unit is then placed into a furnace which is heated so that the wax melts away and the powder hardens, leaving behind an empty space in the shape of the desired component. This room has an advanced air-filtration system that collects and removes any aerosolized wax and silica particles that may be released.

Once the investment powder has solidified, the mold is placed inside a casting machine and held at a temperature of 1000°F as liquid metal fills the empty space. Once the mold is filled and the metal solidified, the whole unit is dipped in cold water so that the investment mold breaks apart from thermal shock.

A close-up of the control panel for the casting machine. The symbol on the left side with the six circles connected by thin arms represents the individual components of the upside-down the tree. The casting machine fills these hollow forms with the desired metal.

Trees can be made in any form for a single solid metal component. Anderson showed us a sterling silver signet ring that had just been cast. 

_{A sterling silver signet ring right out of the cast still with a residual coating. The image on the right shows the nub where the ring was connected to the tree.}

Anderson commented on the rough surface of the ring, saying "it certainly does not look like jewelry yet." To achieve that desirable shine, the cast item must be polished several times. The first step utilizes steel pins submerged in a solution that are spun at a right rate by an underlying magnet.

After the steel pins rub away most of the outer casting, the components are then put into a separate polishing machine which uses a gentle porcelain medium to burnish and buff the surface to a higher shine. Once this is completed, the component is ready to be sold or assembled as part of a larger item.

Turning now to wire, Anderson explained that they are able to create jump rings of various shapes and diameters by inserting a coil into a specialized machine. As the coil is fed through the device, a blade slices through the top, creating individual loops. Traditional round jump rings are made, as well as oval and triangular shapes.

Rio Grande also sells a great deal of metal wires made of gold, silver, platinum, argentium, base metal, and gold-filled (an increasingly popular choice as gold prices continue to skyrocket). Online, you will see quite a few different options including plain, patterned, square, gallery, and more.

_{The beaded wire on the left and the twisted wire on the right were both made by stamping plain wire. No complicated beading or twisting was required.}

A third use of wire is to create earring components. Anderson mentioned that this is a labor-intensive process because everything has to be assembled by hand. "In theory", he said, "it would be possible to make a machine that does this procedure automatically, and we have tried. But we realized that it would take more time and resources than we have to make it work."

All bench jewelers know that precious metals become progressively more brittle as you manipulate them. In order to make the rings, wire, and earring components as malleable as possible for the user, the last step in their production line is to be annealed.

As mentioned above, the Albuquerque facility also assembles on-site some of Rio Grande's machines. 

Up until this point, our tour focused on standard, pre-made items that Rio Grande produces and sells every day. However, recall that Claspell claimed that he sees "customization and personalization" as the future. To that end, Anderson now pivoted away from the mass-produced products to give us an inside look at how bespoke pieces are made.

Making Your Unique Vision Come to Life

A classic customization technique is engraving, and the Rio Grande facility is able to, in Anderson's words, "do pretty much anything on pretty much anything." We can't show the physical station, but one of the engraving experts graciously showed his current project to us - an image of a fingerprint to be engraved on a small disk. The engraver said that he was having trouble getting a clean image onto the metal because the outlines of the individual ridges on the high-resolution images he was given were not smooth. Rather than just printing an image and moving onto the next project, he wanted to spend the time to make the engraving elegant and beautiful. He showed us several of his attempts and said that it was going to take some more work to produce something he was proud of. 

For projects that require physical fabrication, Rio Grande has a fully equipped customization room. Large enough to accommodate multiple jewelers at one time, this is the place where items are soldered together, CAD designs are realized, and stones are set. 

We met with Steve Cordova, a jeweler who has worked in the industry for three decades, the last 5 years at Rio Grande. He spoke about how the company works with their clients at every step in the fabrication process.

The first scenario Cordova described was a jeweler sending in one of their own custom CAD files. Rather than execute a design blindly, Cordova said that he analyzes every part of the model, and relies on his experience to detect potentially problematic elements like prongs being the wrong size. He relays any concerns to the jeweler and works with them should they decide that changes are warranted. 

Some jewelers send in their CAD files asking the Rio Grande experts for their advice. Recently, Cordova said that designers are very interested in how to minimize the use of gold due to record high values. When this happens, Cordova examines the model and offers feedback, careful not to recommend any changes which would compromise the structural soundness of a design. 

Another option available to jewelers is Rio Grande's existing database of CAD designs. Jewelers can login, identify a template they like, make design choices, and have it constructed. As Rio Grande debuts and expands the Jewelry Builder that Claspell described, this process is going get even more user-friendly.

It is not just jewelry that Rio Grande can customize. They also have the capability to personalize promotional items like tote bags, jewelry sacs, and boxes. All business owners need to do is send in the design they want to use - this often is the title of their business with or without an accompanying design motif - and Rio Grande technicians create a reusable copper plate in the desired size(s). A hot stamping machine transfers colored foil onto the item. For convenience, Rio Grande stores these copper plates so businesses can easily place future orders. 

The final room in the facility is a photography space where all of the necessary high-resolution images can be created. Images of new products are needed for the website and older pictures are updated. This is not as straightforward as it sounds. Jewelry is primarily as visual art. As such, all images must display perfectly uniform and standardized color expression. Reflections and impurities like dust are unacceptable. This may seem like an easy part of the process, but doing it right takes time and skill.

As we finished our tour, Anderson expressed his hope that Ganoksin readers will feel like they not only know more about the products that Rio Grande offers, but also the company's ongoing commitment to education, their workforce, the environment. Claspell emphasized that the development of new products like Precision Diamonds and the Jewelry Builder will allow customers access to calibrated gemstones and customizable design templates to make their artistic visions come to life.