by Jennie Lloyd | Photos by Cindy Alvarez
Tulsa jeweler Susan Sadler has a world-class sense of style, classic and
striking. Bold and unusual. Her great eye for color and design gives her away as the talented owner of her Brookside studio, Susan Sadler Jewelry.
The sophisticated shop is where Sadler creates luxe custom jewelry (along with some ready-to-purchase designs) and wholesales unusual gemstones she has collected from all over the globe.
Sadler’s impressive collection also includes one other precious little gem — Pearl, her four-year-old Scottish Terrier. Sweet-natured Pearl is always in the shop with Sadler. The dog likes to pad around
the office to greet people at the door or bring a tug toy to drop at someone’s feet. She also loves to snuggle up in her dog bed, tucked away in a white cupboard.
Sadler has a long list of reasons to love Scotties. “They’re smart, independent, funny. They have a great sense of humor, they mind well — except if Pearl sees a squirrel in the yard, and then she doesn’t hear anything else,” she laughs.
Pearl came from a Claremore breeder who shows Scotties. When Sadler was looking for a new dog, the woman said she would think about it. “And then she called one day and said, ‘I think I have the perfect dog for you,’ ” Sadler says.
Pearl “was shown as a puppy, and she jumped up and kissed the judge. That’s a big no-no, so she was retired” from shows, Sadler says. “And I have loved her ever since.”
Pearl’s full show name is Princess of the Black Pearl in honor of her shiny bright black coat. Sadler shortened the name to Pearl, and now the pup wears a very large natural pearl on a chain attached to her “Best Dog Ever” collar.
“Come here, Little Bit,” Sadler calls to Pearl from the other room. Pearl runs in on short legs, looks up inquisitively, and raises her comically adorable eyebrows. “Scotties’ beards and eyebrows are oneof-a-kind, charming,” Sadler says. “All the kids think she’s a boy because she has a beard, but of course not. She’s a lady.”
A World of Gemstones
Sadler’s work surrounds us in her lovely studio — the culmination of more than four decades in the gemstone and diamond business. She is a creative jewelry designer as well as a knowledgeable source for the most interesting gems and stones one can imagine. Sadler is a long-standing member of the American Jewelry Design Council. Her designs and creations have won awards, including the Spectrum Award and Designer of the Year.
“Put your paw out,” she says — to me, not to Pearl this time. She places in my fingers a stone that sparkles like fire, like looking into a galaxy. Inside her studio are staunchly protected boxes filled with Sadler’s finds.
As a late spring Tulsa day turned stormy and dark, Pearl curled back up in her dog bed and was quiet. The only sounds were the rain on the windows and the crinkling of paper envelopes as we opened up paper after paper full of fascinating stones.
When Sadler went to Hong Kong all the time early in her career, the envelopes were her first system of organizing her findings abroad. Each white paper envelope is still color-coded with highlighters and penciled-in handwritten notes about the jewel inside. The boxes are stored safely until Sadler needs something from them.
Sadler began her work in the gemstone business as a young girl in 1979. She found herself traveling with other gemologists, just learning the trade. “I loved Hong Kong, and I loved Bangkok,” both hubs for finding the world’s best gems, she says. The food, the culture, the experiences were “the best beginning of anything,” she adds. Especially the start of a lifelong career — and adventure — into the world of gems and jewelry design.
Sadler was quick to learn the business, and she “fell in love with gemstones” on her first day in Hong Kong, she says. She was shown a sapphire and immediately picked out occlusions that had evaded experienced eyes. Within years, she was traveling on her own, trusting her intuition and experience to buy gems for her growing wholesale business.
Some of the stones in the envelopes date back to when she bought them across the world in the mid-1990s. The pencil markings on these envelopes are faded, hinting at treasures within.
Some of the stones are slippery smooth, others rough, but all are raw and lovely, alive. There are cat’s-eyes with cloudy white pupils that follow you as you move the stones in your hands. Namibian chalcedony glowing violet. African tourmaline with aquamarine blue rippling along the edges. Moonstone, glossy and inscrutable crystal balls. There are Ethiopian opals and chunks of inky agate sparkling with druzy crystals.
“That is what’s so fascinating — that they occur naturally. It doesn’t seem possible,” Sadler says.
Settled in Comfort
These days, Sadler doesn’t travel abroad so much anymore. Instead, she relies on her trusted sources and knowledge of overseas markets to find what she’s looking for. She and her team create high-end custom jewelry for discerning buyers; she also continues to sell stones wholesale. “I don’t think I’ll ever be too old to do this,” she says.
Now that life is settled down into comfort on Brookside, Pearl and Sadler spend lots of time taking walks and snuggling whenever they’re away from the studio. “What Pearl really likes is when I get all settled somewhere, she lies down on the couch next to me, rolls over, and wants me to rub her belly,” Sadler laughs. “She loves that more than anything. That’s what she does at night in bed too. If I roll over to face her, she rolls over so I can pet her.”
Pearl is the perfect snuggle partner, and she loves to spoon in bed too. When she’s not snuggling, she loves to engage with toys. Sometimes in the summer, Sadler and Pearl like to cruise around in the car and stop for ice cream to share.
Sometimes the most precious gems are found not in far-flung markets oceans away but in the car seat next to us on a perfect summer day, licking the ice cream from her beard.
