I know I've become spoiled by California weather when on this 45-degree and sunny morning in late January, I was going to begin this story with, "on a rather brisk morning in San Luis Obispo… " My friends back home in WA would laugh at me. Anyway, for my fourth consultation, I worked with Baxter Moerman, a jewelry store in SLO. I was met by Matt Baxter who opened Baxter Moerman in 2009 with his business partner, Matt Moerman. I was then introduced to whom I think might be the real brains of the operation, Indy, a cute, mixed-breed, 8-year-old pup who walked around like he owned the place. Indy and Matt B. showed me around the store, and honestly, I don't think I've ever been into a jewelry store that wasn't in a mall, so this was a fascinating experience. I got to see where all the magic happens: in the back of the store, the goldsmiths sit on their benches, handcrafting precious metals into fine jewelry.
After my tour, I sat down with both Matt B. and Matt M. to begin our session. They were very receptive to the discovery process – both have used ChatGPT before, so they understood that providing a lot of relevant details would be beneficial later on. Recently, Matt B. used ChatGPT to craft an email to a prospective employee. He described the iterative process that took place when trying to produce the result he was looking for: "I corrected GPT's response three to four times and switched it up slightly to create better versions. I also did something similar with our newsletter, which we try to do about twice a month." When asked about their general thoughts on AI, they expressed similar concerns: "I think it's already making an impact with social media – the fact that you have to question everything you see. You've got to ask, 'is this a real story, is this a real picture?' It makes me question things more."
When they aren't designing jewelry, they are tasked with a number of administrative responsibilities: communicating with customers, making sure they aren't missing deadlines, training employees, entering product information and sales data into QuickBooks, and monitoring their online and social media presence. Matt M. mentioned, "We should actually do a newsletter this week because we're headed to the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show next week, so we'll be closed for three days." We prompted Claude by asking it/him/her (idk) to consider this information, and with Valentine's Day right around the corner, we decided to craft a newsletter focused on pieces for a special someone. Matt B. was able to see the usefulness of this prompt: "Sometimes, the hardest part is staring at a blank page, not knowing where to begin." Though I believe it's important to preserve the authenticity of your writing, it's smart to at least begin to incorporate AI into your workflow. It's clear that using Claude as a brainstorm buddy can save time, something that business owners don't have a lot of. Last night, I created a prompt that could create a gift guide for Mother's Day. I specified that this guide should include 3-4 price tiers, personal significance suggestions (why these pieces are relevant for Mother's Day), and an emphasis on craftsmanship. I thought that it might be useful to present this guide as an SVG flyer as this would be a natural fit for their newsletters and social media pages. I asked Claude to create an "elegant SVG flyer." Matt M. realized that this flyer could be adapted for Instagram, which "could save time that I spend trying to create the perfect flyer in Canva." I expect that Claude will only continue to get better at creating images throughout 2025.
I learned that Matt B. and Matt M. were co-workers at another jewelry store in SLO before deciding to open their own shop. What inspired them to become business owners was "a desire to sell pieces that we've made – we wanted freedom of design." There's a lot that makes Baxter Moerman unique from other jewelers. For example, their manufacturing process. They use AutoCAD to create designs, which then gets sent to their New York manufacturer who provides the metals needed for the goldsmiths to add their handcrafted touch. Another differentiator is the scope of work they do. Some jewelers are specialists, meaning they focus solely on bridal (engagement rings and weddings) or basic repairs. Instead of specializing, Baxter Moerman crafts pieces for all occasions. Claude could be described as a geography geek, having extensive knowledge of seasonal events in places like SLO. Because Baxter Moerman serves the SLO area for any occasion, I asked Claude to "Create a focused marketing calendar that ties Baxter Moerman's custom jewelry business to San Luis Obispo's unique local events and character." Claude returned with some strategic business marketing suggestions, such as "Partner with local wedding venues (Santa Margarita Ranch, Biddle Ranch Vineyard)" and "Feature stories of local Cal Poly alumni who chose Baxter Moerman for their special moments." This led to another discussion about tone adaptation, and how Claude is capable of crafting stories for special pieces of jewelry.
Toward the end of our session, Matt B. revealed a fascinating story of a recent trip to a grocery store where he saw a Cal Poly student having a full-on conversation with ChatGPT in an aisle, receiving assistance in purchasing items for a recipe. This feels like a great example of AI beginning to become impactful in society. Together, we envisioned a future where everyone will soon be having conversations with their AI assistants in public – drawing comparisons to the emergence of cell phones. Something I always find mind-boggling is looking at photos of sporting events or concerts from the early to mid-2000s and not a phone in sight. Today, it's as if there is some rule for attending concerts - "you must hold the magical brick in the sky for all to see" (shoutout Coldplay for attempting to curb this). To represent futuristic AI capabilities, we experimented with Claude's computer use feature, which gives Claude control to operate your computer autonomously. I asked Claude to navigate to Baxter Moerman's website and submit a customer inquiry using my information. Claude gave its best effort, but unfortunately this feature is still in beta so it wasn't able to submit the form, giving me a "rate limit error" message (it's okay, Claude. I believe in you 🙂). I had a great time visiting Baxter Moerman. I found this consultation to be very productive – I hope Matt Baxter and Matt Moerman did as well. If you're in the market for the best jewelry in SLO, you know where to go! Baxter Moerman will be returning from Tucson with a variety of special gemstones to work with.