When I'm not writing, I spend my time designing jewelry, which is something between an obsession and a business. When I lived in New York I used to go down to the jewelry district and haggle with grumpy old men over the price of stones. In L.A. it's a little kinder and gentler. I've been coming down to the jewelry district in L.A. for over fifteen years. A lot has stayed the same (Bella Findings still has a corner on the findings market, David, the put-upon owner still looks exactly the same) and a lot has changed (like Times Square, the L.A. jewelry district has had a bit of a facelift and is not quite as grungy as it used to be.) I park in one of the lots on Hill in between 7th and 8th. If you self park in the lot on Olive you will have a hell of a time maneuvering a 12-point turn to wangle yourself out of a sardine-size spot.
The biggest change in recent years is the price of gold. A few weeks ago gold was at a record high, over 1,400 an ounce. Today, since gold is still high (1,352/ounce) I decided to cash in some of my old findings, pieces of chain and half-finished projects. I found a little shop announcing "we buy gold" right on 7th between Hill and Olive. I chatted with the owner, Shahram for a while. We somehow got on the subject of him being a Persian Jew, and he assured me Persian Jews have much more scruples than Israeli Jews. He gave me a fair price and paid me in cash (awesome!) but wanted to know if I was a cop. Since he is just buying my gold to melt it down and paying me in cash, I guess it was an under the table arrangement, but I was thrilled with the cash and assured him I am just a nice Jewish girl from Brooklyn melting down my gold to buy some new findings and make some new original pendants and charms. Shahram told me if I'm holding onto any more gold findings that I don't need I should cash them in now, before the price goes down. Happy to hear it is going down. He thinks in a few weeks it will be back around 1,200 an ounce.
With dough in my pocket I visited Dik on Wilshire and Grand. Dik is the metalsmith who makes gorgeous bangles and pendants for me. Sometimes I sketch things or make a mock-up in sculpey clay that I bake in the oven, and Dik makes a mold, keeps it at his office and then I can call up and order pieces from him in silver, yellow gold, rose gold, etc. Dik is part of a big Armenian community downtown - guys who live in Glendale and work in the jewelry district. He usually offers me some potent looking coffee that looks like it would keep me up for a month. He is a character - very sweet with a slightly off, sarcastic sense of humor. He friended me on Facebook so now I get to see pictures of him on his Harley Davidson taking little weekend jaunts with his friends.
After Dik's studio I hit Bella Findings, and then I was starving. I used to never risk eating in the jewelry district because it was pretty darn skanky - there were greasy fast food shacks that the health department rated "B" or "C." But nowadays there are some downright trendy spots - the best one I have discovered is Bottega Louie on the corner of Grand and 7th. When you walk into the gorgeous space, it's one of those big marble places that probably used to be a bank, and it is lovely. I have never sat down in the restaurant, I just get stuff from the take out counter. Today I tried an Italian meat pie (chicken) which was in every way just like an empanada, except it was round, not crescent shaped. As I noshed while walking down the street back to my car, I was bummed I didn't buy a dozen of them to take home. Although I would have just probably eaten them all in the car on the ride back, so it's maybe not the lowest cal diet. Lauren Hill's Killing Me Softly came on the radio so Brooklyn must really have been in the air. A cold iced tea, good music, no traffic. A stereotypical 72 and sunny. I am headed back to the westside. Mission accomplished.
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