NOVEMBER 10 • 2022 | 53
PHOTOS COURTESY OF MATTHEW GROSS
continued on page 54
started a GoFundMe account
for the Fuentes family. Once the
story of Gross’ mission to help the
Fuentes family hit a jewelry trade
publication, calls started coming
in. The first call came from Mark
Tapper of Tapper’s Jewelry in West
Bloomfield, Troy and Novi.
“Mark called and said that
they had a bunch of equipment
that they were going to sell but,
after reading the article, Tapper’s
decided to donate it to Jesus’
jewelry business. It was pretty
amazing,” says Gross, who plans
to go back to San Miguel de
Allende in February for a month
this time.
Gross’ suitcase is already packed
with tools to donate. And the
plans have been finalized for
Gross to take a small group of
fellow jewelry designers on an
inaugural culture and architecture
tour of the area. By 2024, Gross
plans to officially launch a new
touring business.
After the article came out,
calls started coming in from
all over the country. Gesswein
Jewelry Tools in Bridgeport,
Conn., donated a large number
of discontinued items. Soon,
Gross had received over $7,000 in
equipment, tools and gemstone
donations. That’s 500 pounds that
Gross had to figure out how to get
An example of Jesus Villaverde
Fuentes’ self-taught engraving from
the tools Gross sent him.
LEFT: The crate
arrives in San Miguel
De Allende Mexico.
RIGHT, TOP TO
BOTTOM: Jesus
Villaverde Fuentes
teaches kids jewelry
making in his home
studio in San Miguel
de Allende. Some
of the kids Jesus
Villaverde Fuentes
has taught.