From the day he cut his first rock in 1972, Bill Wirtel knew this was for him, he just didn’t know why. The Santa Fe Stoneworks story begins with Bill’s grandfather, who was a stone cutter in the early 1900’s. His children however (including Bill’s father) were all sent to college so they wouldn’t have to become labourers. Bill followed the same path as his father and studied business before working for several companies, but discovered it wasn’t where his passions lay. In the late 60’s, he left his hometown of St. Louis and spent the next two years wandering in the west, before settling in Santa Fe and becoming involved in jewellery, purely as a means of making a living.

Bill did not wish to work in the regular jewellery market though, and began focusing on crafting men’s gifts, in particular knives. In 1978 John Iverson joined Bill and together they created Santa Fe Stoneworks. He saw the knife as the man’s oldest tool, with lapidary work being man’s oldest craft, and had a vision to create a seamless marriage between the two art forms, a quintessential merging of fine steels with intricate gemstones or shells. John and Bill worked together for over 20 years, building Santa Fe Stoneworks into one of the largest and most respected production craft studios in the industry. When John retired, Bill’s wife, daughter and son joined him to create a true family business.

Today, Bill proudly carries on his grandfather’s tradition and Santa Fe Stoneworks remains a family business that creates handcrafted art knives of rare, intricate beauty. You can shop the Santa Fe Kaleidoscope Collection here.