To those of us who have had the pleasure of getting to know him for the past several years, Luis Fernandes (or Lou) is known around the store as kind, helpful, creative, innovative and of course a phenomenal bench jeweler! 

The journey that brought Lou to Brent L. Miller is quite a remarkable one, filled with great joy and many challenges along the way. Luis Fernandes was born in a small town of Southern Brazil (Brasil), known as Santa Maria. 

While on summer break from high school, Lou was given the opportunity to work at a jewelry store for three months. This sparked his initial interest in becoming a jeweler and Lou never looked back. Lou was such a natural craftsman, he was invited back to the same store to work part time as he finished high school. When he completed two years of apprenticeship, Lou became a bench jeweler and began working on more challenging pieces of jewelry. 

By this time Lou had been working as a bench jeweler for 10 years in Brazil. Lou was invited to Hershey, Pennsylvania to complete an 18 month jeweler workshop. After successfully completing the workshop, Lou and his wife decided to stay in Pennsylvania and find work while applying for their green cards. Not knowing that it would ultimately take them 4 years to get their green cards, (which finally came to pass in 2000! ) Lou pursued a career as a bench jeweler here in Pennsylvania.

Now, almost 37 Years after sitting on his first bench, Lou sits on a bench here at Brent Miller and we are beyond grateful and honored to have him. We find it extraordinary that Lou has masterfully worked as a goldsmith his entire life. 

Here at Brent Miller, we pride ourselves in making everyone feel special and have an amazing experience. Lou’s craftsmanship, artistry and ability to problem solve make him such a valuable member of our team.