Juan Velasco was born in Bolivia in 1942. He studied in Bolivia and Argentina, and came to the USA for college in 1961. He received a B.A. in Business in 1965; US citizenship in 1966 and was also drafted that year. He served as an officer in the US Navy from 1966 to 1969, and received his Masters from Thunderbird Graduate School of International Management. From there he worked on Wall Street until 1974. After that Juan moved to New Mexico.

“Do in life what you really love to do - fulfillment and money will come," is the advice Juan gives. His passions in life are his wife Suzanne and his son, Adrian.

Juan has been designing jewelry since 1986, and involves artisans in his birth country of South America to cut stones and do some preliminary silverwork. Juan puts together and finishes the pieces in his studio in Santa Fe, and is proud of every handmade item. Juan has worked with stones since he was young, and he is now using Chinese turquoise, Afghan lapis, South African sugilite, Mediterranean coral, Mexican spiny oyster shell and others. The jewelry is all hand made. The piece is first constructed in silver (sometimes gold). The stone is then cut to fit the exact shape. It is set and the stone is then dry ground to match the silver and finally it is polished. Most pieces have hinges, which provide nice movement and flexibility.

Juan has an avid audience for his jewelry. His clean simple lines make his jewelry eminently wearable, no matter what area of the country you find yourself in. He keeps his prices very reasonable, and clients often go home with several of his pieces at a time.