Denver School of Metal Arts

Joe Lupo Biography

Joe Lupo was born and raised in a family that has been in the jewelry business since the 1930’s. Joe originally went to college for psychology, but soon discovered that it was not the direction he wanted to take. In 1972, being drawn to the jewelry business, he went to work for his father who was a watchmaker in the diamond district in NYC. He learned the trade of  watchmaking, but was still craving more. So he built a jewelers bench in his home and from there began making jewelry and apprenticing under old world craftsmen. In 1983 he started a small shop and began doing trade work for the Denver jewelry stores. During this time, Joe was fortunate enough to be taken under the wings of an old time Denver jeweler who had learned the trade in the 1940’s. There were no casting or findings houses, so Joe learned to make everything by hand. The years of doing repairs gave him the experience and knowledge to create his own designs. Since then he has worked in repair and design, doing trade shows in Tucson and Las Vegas, becoming well known in galleries all over the country. He was also a feature artist in Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom. In 2002 he opened his own gallery in Denver. “There are no shortcuts in making jewelry, you have to work at it,” Joe says, “and after 37 years I’m still learning.”