NEWBURYPORT — When Jim Conley's wife died in 2005, Newburyport's premier goldsmith-silversmith decided he needed a change.
Conley sold the jewelry store he had operated in Market Square since 1989 — and at other Newburyport locations for five years before that.
"I needed a mental break," he said yesterday, seated in his Kingston, N.H., workshop. "I decided to sell the business and do what I really enjoyed, goldsmithing and silversmithing."
On March 14, Conley will return to the downtown Newburyport retail scene by placing his works in Valerie's Gallery at 26 State St. He'll also be available in the gallery Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. to consult about jewelry repairs and custom projects.
He described returning to Newburyport as "kind of what they call a sweet sorrow because of memories of my wife."
Jim and Cathleen Conley had been together for 24 years when she died on Feb. 28, 2005, at 57. She was for many years a clinical manager in the Anna Jaques Hospital recovery room.
Cathleen Conley had beaten cancer twice before, in 1983 and 1998, but she received a diagnosis in May 2004 of bone cancer from which she would not recover.
But he also said "Newburyport is a little in my blood," because his great-grandfather had a pharmacy on State Street in the 1880s.
Valerie Stainton, owner of the store, said she is "very excited about having Jim Conley's work here."
"Some of my customers have been Jim's customers, so it's a natural fit," she said.
Conley said that when he got the urge to come back to Newburyport, he knew he wanted to be in a setting where a wide range of arts were represented, and Valerie's fit the bill.
"I walked around downtown, and I knew I wanted to be in a store with a nice clean look and that had a lot of beautiful things by a lot of artists," he said.
Jim Conley, 58, has been a goldsmith-silversmith since high school. The Ipswich native apprenticed to an artisan on Cape Cod. In college, where he started studying pre-medicine, he found he could earn money on the side by making items of jewelry, something he found gratifying.
"I decided I was really enjoying the artistic side of myself," he said.
After a stint at Old Newbury Crafters, Conley started selling pieces to top-of-the-line stores, such Cartier in New York and Shreve, Crump and Low in Boston.
He opened his own store, Conley's Goldsmiths Silversmiths, at Merrimac Landing in 1984, then moved briefly to the Merrimac Street building that houses the Chamber of Commerce today before finally setting up shop in Market Square for 16 years.
His arrangement with Valerie's Gallery will allow him to work on new pieces and still get an occasional taste of retail.
"Selling the store was a good thing. It helped me clear my head and refocus," he said. "I enjoyed the store, my customers and the people I worked with, but it took a tremendous amount of time. And then I wasn't at the bench, and I'd miss that, too."
To consult Conley on jewelry repairs or custom project, call 978-621-7333.
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