Fire Mountain Gems and Beads started in 1973 with Stuart's love for cutting faceted stones. As an engineer, he enjoyed the angles, optics and gemology. After filling an entire garage with finished stones, it was finally time to sell them. Over the last 50 years, he and his wife Chris have turned a garage-based hobby into an international jewelry-making supply company.

He traveled the world in search of jewelry-making supplies, making everlasting partnerships and friendships along the way. His life's work has brought together a community of designers, artists, suppliers and employees from across the world. Our motto of "Uniting the World One Bead at a Time" was truly lived by Stuart.