“Art is a kind of mining,” he said. “The artist a variety of prospector searching for the sparkling silver of meaning in the earth,” wrote Canadian author Jane Urquhart in her book, The Underpainter. A treasure trove of jewelry and unique gift items such as gemstones has been offered for more than 25 years at DeLong Studio, which you’ll find in the Trout Creek area of Summerland just off Highway 97. Those in the know have been mining this boutique shop for years with the majority of DeLong’s customers as returning clients, many for 20 years or more. As they prospect for the most recent lode of handmade pieces, they delight in bringing friends and visitors, sometimes referring it to their secret place for buying gifts. Who wouldn’t want to unearth this resource? DeLong Studio specializes in custom one-of-a-kind and extremely limited handmade pieces. The silver is all solid sterling or higher grade. Here you’ll find the largest inventory of silver and coloured gemstones in the Valley, given DeLong has been adding to its collection for over 25 years. It has its own lapidary shop on site and cuts unique gemstones for the jewelry from rough on a regular basis sourcing them mainly from the miners.
You can shop at DeLong Studio every day, 10 am to 5 pm, from April 1st to Christmas, and online service is offered with shipping available worldwide. To preview a sampling of the products or to place an order, visit their website: delongstudio.com. You’ll find an exciting array of jewelry, fine mineral specimens, lapidary products, leather accessories, scarves and watercolour art cards. Offsite, you can also prospect for a selection of DeLong jewelry and other items during wine-touring season at Thornhaven Estates Winery and year-round at the Penticton VQA Wine Shop.
delongstudio.com
~ Roslyne Buchanan