Southern Cal. 24K Club to Honor Herb Bridge

	Herbert M. “Herb” Bridge of Ben Bridge Jewelers, Seattle, will receive the 24K Club of Southern California’s prestigious Excellence In Service Award. The award has been bestowed upon a deserving individual or individuals annually since 1998. The event will be held Sept. 13 in the Crystal Ballroom at the Beverly Hills Hilton.
“On this 10th anniversary of the Excellent In Service Award, choosing honoree Herb Bridge was an easy choice,” said club president Julia Baroni, chief executive officer of Baroness Jewelers. “His lifetime of achievements is a true inspiration to us all.” “Herb exemplifies the qualities we look for in an honoree,” added incoming president Donna M. Phelan. “He is a true leader and a visionary – in the jewelry industry, the Navy and civic service. Herb built a family jewelry store into a business even Warren Buffet admired. Promoting the highest ethical standards, he encouraged his associates to become educated in gemology, and was a driving force in building the American Gem Society.” Bridge is best known in the industry for his leadership of Ben Bridge jewelers, although his jewelry experience is just one face of his interests and activities. His additional achievements include being a successful businessman, a naval officer in two wars as well as a Seattle civic leader and philanthropist known as, “Mr. Downtown.” He had a 41-year career in the Navy and Naval Reserve, eventually becoming a rear admiral. He and his brother, Robert, took over Ben Bridge Jewelers from their father, building it to a chain of more than 70 stores. Today, the company is a subsidiary of Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. with Herb and Bob Bridge acting as co-chairmen. JCK-Jewelers Circular Keystone, 8/12/2008

Shining Stars

Cancer Research Center gets $10,440 Ben Bridge Jeweler and Mikimoto Pearls donated $10,440 from jewelry sales to the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii to help continue its research, education and service to cancer patients. Both jewelry companies donated 20 percent from every sale of specially designed jewelry in the "Everything is Possible with Hope" collection for three months beginning in October 2007. Star Bulletin - Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Corporate Responsibility: Companies & Careers that Make a Difference

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, USA - February 6, 2008 - Representatives from the several well-known companies discussed corporate and social responsibility and why it's such an important consideration both personally and for their companies. The event, which drew more than 100 students, was part of UW Career Discovery Week.

The panel was comprised of Bev Hori, vice president of Ben Bridge Jeweler and a member of the Council for Responsible Jewelry Practices; Robert Bernard, chief environmental strategist at Microsoft; Sue Mecklenburg (MBA 1994), vice president of sustainable procurement practices at Starbucks; and Dr. David Brandling-Bennett, senior program officer in the Global Health Program of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

American Gem Society Recognition

Susan Jaime, manager of our South Coast Plaza, CA store, was recognized as a Fellow of the American Gem Society at the annual Conclave, held this year in Seattle, WA. She and seven others were applauded by the American Gem Society for their contribution, commitment and service to their communities and the jewelry profession. Congratulations Susan!

Talking with: Jon Bridge, Co-CEO and General Counsel, Ben Bridge Jeweler

Ben Bridge Jeweler is one of the largest family-run jewelry chains in the state of Washington. The company's 78 stores stretch from California to Minnesota, and will number 80 by year's end -- one opening at Seattle's University Village in July and another in Spokane later in the year. Ben Bridge's start dates back to 1912 when watchmaker Sam Silverman opened his first store in downtown Seattle. Silverman sold to his son-in-law Ben Bridge in the 1920s and the business was passed down through the generations. Today at the helm with his cousin Ed Bridge, an accountant, is attorney Jon Bridge, co-CEO and general counsel. A community leader, he chairs the Alliance for Education and is vice chair of Evergreen Children's Association day care programs.

Jon Bridge is co-CEO and general counsel at Ben Bridge Jeweler

ON THE FAMILY BUSINESS: It's a big responsibility shepherding and growing the business. We have kept past traditions -- the name, the sales of watches, and our place in the community. But we're all about change as well. In fact my daughter Rebecca (Bridge), a registered jeweler, works for us now.

ON MILTARY SERVICE: I'm third generation Navy, a captain with nine years active duty and 22 in the reserve. I was a Navy JAG (Judge Advocate General's Corps) and they sent me to law school. I teach military law to ROTC midshipmen. My father, Herb Bridge, still heavily involved with the business, is a two-star admiral. My uncle Bob, a commander. And my grandfather was a Navy chief. Everything comes full circle.

ON CURRENT TRENDS: A significant portion of our diamonds are from the Northwest Territories in Canada. That Canadian stone is our own diamond brand called Ikuma, which, in Inuit, means "fire." We also have our own brand of Italian gold. The baby boom generation is our major clientele, with the children of the "boomers" not far behind. We have three generations of customers buying contemporaneously. Large watches for women are a big trend. Women's self-purchases are very big. Increasing numbers of women feel comfortable buying jewelry themselves, often for themselves. They definitely know what they like.

Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle)
Friday, February 1, 2008

Common-sense mining reform protects nature, consumers

By Jon Bridge
Special to The Seattle Times

Jewelry symbolizes affection, love and commitment. Jewelry, and the metals mined to create it, should also embody environmental and social responsibility. As co-CEO of a family-run jewelry company, I want to be able to tell my customers that the precious metals we use are mined responsibly. No one wants to buy a "dirty gold" wedding ring or a "blood diamond" anniversary gift, and we don't want to sell them.

That's why my company and 26 other leading jewelers support the "golden rules" for responsible sourcing developed by nonprofit groups, including EARTHWORKS and Oxfam, and the retail jewelers trade association, Jewelers of America.

While an international dialogue between nongovernmental organizations, retailers, multinational mining companies and affected communities has begun to wrestle with how to apply the "golden rules" on a global basis, we have an opportunity to lead the way here at home.

Unfortunately, there's an obstacle blocking more-responsible mining in the United States - the badly outdated 1872 Mining Law, which affects hundreds of millions of acres of Western public lands. Intended to spur development of the West, the law is virtually the same today as it was when President Ulysses S. Grant signed it.

Nearly everyone agrees reform is needed. The reasons are compelling: The law contains no environmental provisions, it gives mining preferential treatment over other uses of our public lands, and it perpetuates a land giveaway at 1872 prices. In addition, mining companies can buy public lands for $2.50 to $5 an acre and they don't pay any royalty for the gold or silver. These giveaways have been temporarily suspended, but they remain part of the old law.

The net result is a loss of royalty dollars to our national treasury as well as polluted water and hundreds of thousands of abandoned mines across the West. Some of these mines are so contaminated with toxins that they pose an imminent threat to people or wildlife and end up as Superfund sites.

With metals prices skyrocketing, thousands of new mining claims are being staked on public lands. In Washington alone, claims increased 14 percent between 2003 and 2007, according to federal data compiled by the Environmental Working Group.

Here in the Evergreen State, there is a new proposal for an open-pit nickel and copper mine next to Mount St. Helens National Monument, which has downstream towns, including Kelso, worried. This same story is repeated around the West in places such as Boise, Tucson and Bristol Bay, Alaska, home of the world's largest wild sockeye salmon runs.

Jewelers support common-sense mining-law reforms. The U.S. House of Representatives approved a comprehensive bill late last year, and not a moment too soon. The Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act, HR 2262, would fix many of the old law's worst failings by:

• Empowering federal land managers to balance mining with other uses of our public lands, such as for clean water and places to hike, hunt and fish;
• Giving local governments and tribes a voice in decisions about whether to site new mines near their communities;
• Setting common-sense standards to protect clean water;
• Protecting national parks, monuments, wild and scenic rivers, and roadless backcountry;
• Ending the sale of public lands claimed for mining;
• Providing for abandoned-mine cleanup with a reasonable royalty on the mining industry, which currently pays nothing. Cleanup will be expensive - as much as $50 billion - but would create jobs and restore our poisoned streams to health.

These are principles that the jewelry industry can get behind. Mining contributes to our business and the nation's economy in important ways. Now is the time to scrap the old law for a modern approach that upholds 21st-century Western values and benefits responsible mining companies. Our public lands and clean water are our most precious resources, not to be squandered by a law enacted before the light bulb was invented. Rather, they must be cherished and shared with our families.

As the U.S. Senate considers reform this year, I encourage lawmakers to keep the principles laid out in HR 2262 in mind as they move forward.

With jewelry retailers, hunters and anglers, local elected officials, tribes and conservationists across the West supporting reform, I hope that, soon, consumers can be assured that the gold in the rings and bracelets they purchase come from mines governed by a new law that puts water and communities first and assures the American public of a fair financial return for the mining of our natural resources.

Jon Bridge is the co-CEO of Ben Bridge Jeweler, a 78-store chain headquartered in Seattle.

Copyright C 2008 The Seattle Times Company
Thursday, January 31, 2008