Herbert's Jewelers settles into its new home in Kenosha

A man who hunts for discarded material from comets has made a business making the space debris - into jewelry. Emil Davidsson, 31, from Buenos Aires, Argentina, has made a name for himself with his skills in hunting meteorites. Emil, who resides in Bali, Indonesia, documents online his skills in gathering space debris from across the world.

But he doesn't stop there - after collecting the meteorites he crafts the rocks into jewelry and sells his creations online. Emil creates jewelry from small fragments and his pendants start at €100. He also makes watches with prices starting at €395 and rings at €130.



Emil has been hunting for meteorites for a decade and says they "are extremely rare and difficult to find." He has been on serious expeditions to the Arctic Circle and the Atacama Desert - the driest place on Earth - to find meteorites. Emil said: "I started hunting for meteorites in 2013.

"Every year, I would go on expeditions lasting four to five months above the Arctic Circle. "Three years ago, I met my partner, Alexandra Levchenkova, and together we started expanding our search areas. "We went to places like the Atacama Desert, the driest place on Earth, hunting for meteorites at altitudes of 3500 meters above sea level.

"We would camp there for seven to 10 days without hot water or any other facilities, an extremely wild place." Emil uses a special metal detector that has pulse indicators that emit high-amperage signals, creating electromagnetic fields around the detector. When there is a metal object "the field collapses" creating a spike in voltage that is represented as sound.

If the meteorite is not on the surface he has to dig a hole by hand, which can sometimes be three-metres-deep. Once retrieved by Emil, the space debris will be turned into pendants and other accessories. Emil said: "Each type of meteorite requires a different process since all meteorites are unique.

"For example, iron meteorites, are composed of 92-99% iron. "After we cut them into slices, we need to stabilize them using various methods because if we don't do that they tend to rust. "Additionally, we use nitric acid to reveal the meteorite's distinctive structure known as the Widmanstätten pattern.

"This pattern is one of the most remarkable features of certain meteorites. "It forms through the slow cooling of molten metal over millions of years resulting in the formation of exquisite crystalline 3D patterns. "This unique crystallization process cannot be replicated on Earth as it requires extreme outer space conditions over millions of years.

" According to Emil, Meteorite jewelry is becoming more and more popular and there is a huge demand for the unique products. Emil said: "Meteorites are becoming more popular each year and the demand is increasing. "However, the supply is diminishing annually making their prices rise consistently.

" For Emil the diminishing supply makes the space rocks all the more special. He said: "I believe it's crucial to emphasize how unique and meaningful meteorites are compared to any other material on Earth. "These meteorites originated as remnants from the formation of our solar system, making them older than our planet itself.

"By holding a meteorite in your hand, you are touching the oldest material you could ever come into contact with. "These meteorites come from the Asteroid Belt located between Mars and Jupiter. "Not only are they older than Earth, but they have also travelled millions of kilometres through the vacuum of space.

"Eventually, due to chance and the gravitational pull of Earth, they fell randomly in remote locations. "After thousands of years, we find them with our metal detectors and transform them into unique one-of-a-kind jewelry, truly out of this world." Longtime Kenosha business Herbert's Jewelers found a new home in Kenosha, just across the street from its former spot on 39th Avenue.

Owner Lisa Block has been continuing the business's legacy in the new location, 7536 39th Avenue, since August. "Kenosha is a really tight-knit community and people have been so gracious and really positive about everything," she said. Block's grandfather and father ran the 86-year-old business before she took the reins.

Herbert's was originally located in downtown Kenosha before moving to Pershing Boulevard. It then moved to 39th Avenue next to Luigi's Pizza, where it remained as Block searched for a new site. "And then this became available," she said.

"So we renovated the building, and now we're here." Block said she felt honored to be able to continue her family's legacy. "I feel really honored to be able to do this, and I appreciate we have the community here, and we also have a lot of people coming from Chicago, Madison (and) Milwaukee because we offer so many services here that, unfortunately, are kind of becoming like more and more rare," she said.

"So as a smaller, family owned business, I enjoy it. I like working hard. It keeps me focused.

" Before taking the lead at Herbert's, Block taught high school art and jewelry design. "So I kind of brought those skills here, and then I learned a lot and went to school when I came here for this, so I could continue to do everything that we try to do," she said. The most fulfilling part about running Herbert's is making customers happy, Block said.

"This is some of the most important parts of their lives, like getting married, or even when we go through things on the other end of the spectrum, it's like helping people in whatever capacity you're doing," she said. The teaching aspect of the job is also fulfilling for Block. "From my like education background, I get to help my employees learn new things and grow, and they're taking gemology classes now," she said.

"So it makes me feel like I can still do teaching and helping people at the same time." Block said it's hard to pick a project she's most proud of because each one is custom and unique, but said she "won't let something out the door unless I know that it's what the client wants." "(And) also made really well, the design is strong and wearable, and if it takes a little bit longer, that's what's going to have to happen," she said.

"But I won't give somebody something that I know is not going to be successful." Block said one of the things she is proud of about the store and the way it's run is "everyone is welcome here." "Sometimes people think coming into the jewelry store can be kind of intimidating.

And we don't want that to be the feeling when you come," she said. "It doesn't matter what you're wearing, it doesn't matter what you're trying, where you are, we can pretty much work with any situation. It's hard to try to encompass every single thing, but we do try, and then we always order things for people to see if we don't have it, because you can't have every single thing in the world.

" A full listing of services and products for Herbert's is available online herbertsjewelers.com . “Holy Chaos” attendees hold candles as they sing “Silent Night” at Grace Lutheran Church on Saturday.

Jordan Miller-Stubbendick, right, reads the angel’s announcement with her son Ari, 6, during the “Holy Chaos” nativity program at Grace Lutheran Church on Saturday. Olivia Bard, 10, portrays Mary during a “Holy Chaos” nativity program Saturday evening at Grace Lutheran Church. Leah Schaut, left, speaks as her son, John-Carlos, who is autistic and does not speak, spelled out what he wanted to say during the “Holy Chaos” nativity program Saturday evening at Grace Lutheran Church.

Sophia Schaut, left, sings and plays acoustic guitar as Dorothy Watts, right, signs the words of the song in American Sign Language, during the "Holy Chaos" nativity program at Grace Lutheran Church on Saturday. Lauren Toeller plays Mary, left, her husband Ryan plays Joseph, and their son Beau plays Jesus during a Live Nativity performance at Kenosha Bible Church on Dec. 13.

Eric Barlow plays Simeon as he narrates during a Live Nativity performance at Kenosha Bible Church on Dec. 13. Ryan Toeller plays Joseph, center, left, his wife Lauren plays Mary, center, right, and their son Beau plays Jesus during a Live Nativity performance at Kenosha Bible Church on Dec.

13. The entire cast and the crowd sing together during a Live Nativity performance at Kenosha Bible Church on Dec. 13.

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