How This All Started

How did you get into jewelry making?

In the summer of 2009, I was looking through community education classes at Savannah College of Art & Design and came across a silver jewelry-making class. Wanting to do something creative that wasn’t tied to graphic design or sitting in front of a computer, I signed up. After that first quarter, I was hooked—I ended up taking three more and started getting my own tools. Eventually, I set up a little work area and just kept making jewelry.

At first, I was making the usual project pieces from books and magazines, but I started experimenting with my own ideas—some worked, most didn’t. Then, in October 2012, a guy at work asked me to make a custom ring for his husband. I had an idea for a spinner ring with a more finished look on the ends and three spinners. First try, and it worked. That was the humble beginning of what would become Silver Piston.

By early 2013, I started selling the spinner rings on Etsy and designed another ring for women who ride—a side-set tube ring with a 4mm stone. I called it the Moto Lady cocktail ring after Alicia Elfving’s site, MotoLady.

How many people are at Silver Piston?
After all these years, it’s still just me.

Where did the name Silver Piston come from?
By early 2013, I was brainstorming a name with a motorcycle feel since that’s the crowd I run with. The internet works in funny ways—I had become online friends with John Ryland of Classified Moto. We both share a love of bikes and an advertising background, so I reached out to him for help. In the end, he came up with Silver Piston Rings and helped shape the brand’s voice. By early 2014, I dropped “Rings” from the name since I was making more than just rings, and John agreed it was the right move.

How did you get into the Indian/Buffalo rings?
As a kid, I loved Indian Head nickels—there was something about them that felt so authentic and American. In the spring of 2013, I picked up a bag of nickels just to experiment with. At first, I was soldering jump rings onto them for pendants and keychains. Then, one afternoon in the studio, I decided to cut out the head and mount it on a half-inch-wide band. Boom—I loved it. Next, I cut out a buffalo and did the same. That was the start of what became Silver Piston’s signature rings.

When did you start making hobo nickels, and how did that come about?
By January 2014, I was regularly making and selling nickel rings on Etsy. A couple of years earlier, I had bought a hobo nickel on eBay for $35 and decided to cut it out to make a ring for myself. When I posted it on Instagram, a guy in England, Mark Lee, told me to check out the hobo nickels that Shane “Hobo” Hunter was making and selling. I found one I liked, bid up to $75—and got outbid in four hours.

I tracked down Shane’s email, reached out, and told him what I was doing with nickel rings. He agreed to sell me some of his carved nickels, and the first one he made for me was a Día de los Muertos design. I wanted something unique that stood apart from traditional hobo nickel styles. After that, he carved a Mercury Head dime that became a staple of my hobo rings. As for that nickel I lost the bid on? It ended up selling for $200.

HOW IT’S BEEN GOING I started Silver Piston in 2014 while working full-time in corporate web work, then went full-time with jewelry in 2015. Since then, a lot has happened. Thanks to the internet and Instagram, I’ve met some incredible people. I traveled to motorcycle shows in Portland and Austin, hit up motorcycle film festivals, and took some long rides—across the South, up to Canada, even sleeping by a lighthouse in Maine.

Through all of that—meetups, late-night phone calls, smoke sessions—I’ve come to really appreciate the people I’ve met from all walks of life. I’ve also come to love Atlanta more than I ever thought I would.

When I started traveling, I picked my camera back up and found a new creative outlet. I’d been shooting off and on since taking my first photo class in the early ’90s, but in 2017, something clicked. I was at the Handbuilt Show in Austin, Texas, and took some portraits of friends. I hadn’t shot many people before, but that weekend changed everything. I started photographing more friends, diving into portrait photography, and building my portfolio.

In November 2020, I did a podcast with Ric Stovall from Visual Revolutionary, where we talked about creative paths and always chasing that next itch. I really hit my stride in my mid-40s, and now, well into my  50s, I’m living off creative work. It’s not the easiest path, but it’s the one that suits me.

You can listen to the podcast here.
My photo work is at SteveWestPhoto.com, and my Instagram is @SteveWestPhoto.