Shaw Store is all that glitters for customers

Through the glass of his workroom, Abubackarr Yanssaneh can be seen intently polishing a gold chain for a customer. He stops, heads to the front of the store and presents the chain to the waiting man but as he leans closer, he finds himself unsatisfied with the job and returns to tighten it further until finally, he is pleased with the finished project."I want to make sure I'm 100% satisfied with what I do," he said. "I have to like the things that I make. If I don't think that's it's something I can wear myself or my loved ones, then I don't make it for customers."

Owner of Abou Master Goldsmith on 9th St. in northwest D.C., Yanssaneh has been in the goldsmith business for almost 30 years.

For the past 20 years his shop was located in Adams Morgan but a year ago he decided to move to the developing Shaw area because it was a "better location and more space."

Though Yanssaneh is doing well now, getting started was a difficult task. The gold, jewels and other materials he works with are expensive to buy and he found himself faced with prejudice when trying to get a bank loan.

"[They] don't think that a black person can be a jeweler," he said. "I tell them all the time I was born where they mine gold and diamonds at the same time."

Yanssaneh was born in Sierra Leone, where growing up, he'd "seen people go into mines and mine their own gold to make their own wedding gift to their wife."

In the glass case outlined in gold that stretches the length of the shop front, lies carefully crafted pieces of jewelry.

Fourteen and 18 karat gold earrings are on display to the left of the case and throughout the display. Jewelry made of African ember, marchite, jades and 18 karat gold lay sparkling, waiting to be bought by customers. There is also a borak fresh water pearl necklace and pieces with Adrinka symbols carved into them.

"It's symbols that represent beautiful things," Yanssaneh said. "People that are into African jewelery will know what that means."

Wedding bands are Yanassaneh's fastest selling item. He creates both African and non-African designs out of 18 karat white gold and yellow gold.

Unique to his store are wedding bands made of African ebony wood and gold, something that to his knowledge he invented. "[It's] so many possibilities when it comes to jewelry designing," Yanssaneh said.

"Sometimes [customers] come in here with broken chains that they have in their homes and they just drop me the material and I will weigh it and estimate what kind of material it is and determine what can be made out of what they brought me. And I start sketching. And they will come and look at sketches. Once we agree upon a sketch, I proceed in making a wax model and they will come and try that on and see the work progress."

Though the store is open from 10-6 Monday through Saturday, Yanssaneh stays late, engaged in his work.

"Sometimes my wife calls me and tells me time to come home," he said.

Jewelry making and design is Yanssaneh's passion. With 12 years of training in Europe, he finds no greater pleasure than to transform a lump of gold into something beautiful for all to admire.

"I'm blessed to be here, I love it here," he said. "I hope I'll be here a long time to satisfy my customers. That's my goal."

Address: 1249 9th St. NW Washington, DC\
Phone: (202) 289-1028