CRESTLINE – “B-Man” is back.
For decades, Bruce Workman designed jewelry in Hawaii and Florida under the name “B-Man,” is back at the jeweler’s bench with his newest creation – a pickleball paddle pendant, which will soon hit the market in 10K gold and silver.
“I said to myself, I knew I could build that pickleball paddle, and it couldn’t be any harder than making surfboard and snowboard pendants,” said Workman, who regularly plays the sport at the Galion YMCA and in the mornings with the Bucyrus gang at Aumiller Park.
Although Workman, 65, is semi-retired now, he said he was coaxed months ago by his fellow players to design a piece for the popular paddleball sport, which has swept the country with more than 3.5 million new players hitting the courts last year alone.
His design is 44 millimeters tall and 17 millimeters wide, is set with a peridot to resemble a plastic pickleball ball. “It can be as custom as you want,” Workman said. “You have the whole back of the paddle to work with, so it can be personalized with tournament names, dates, etc.”
The piece is being produced locally by Val Casting, Inc. in Bucyrus. A limited supply of the collection, which will eventually include matching earrings and bracelets, is ready for shipment to Honolulu and Ft. Myers, Florida, for distribution, Workman said.
Workman is no stranger to the Sunshine State. He had his own business for 15 years in Naples, where he created solid gold surfboard pendants, many with diamond settings and classic longboard earrings on a surf leash. His slogan? – “Our Boards Don’t Float, they Hang.”
He also made 18-inch sea chains, waterski earrings with matching pendants, and coral and black pearl pieces for dive shops, then dove into the body jewelry market with custom belly rings and other high-end pieces in gold and platinum set with precious stones.
In 1997, however, Workman made what he considers his highest-rated piece – a 14K gold surfboard pendant which he presented to world-famous surfer Kelly Slater, widely regarded as the greatest professional surfer of all time when he was in Orlando for the annual Surf Expo.
In 2010, Workman moved to Hawaii, where he sold his creations to both tourists and locals riding the waves on Waikiki Beach. His daughter, Jessica Ann, was the model for many of his advertisements, which appeared in the pages of “Aloha Surf,” “Longboard,” and other magazines.
While in Honolulu, Workman said, he read the tragic news about 36-year-old Christopher Campbell of Jacksonville, Florida, a U.S. Navy Seal killed Aug. 6, 2011, in a helicopter crash while serving in Afghanistan. “I just had this calling. Something came over me. It just hit me to my soul.”
The tragedy prompted him to fashion his most memorable piece – a gold cross and surfboard pendant – for Campbell’s mother and sister. He calls it the “Hope Chapel Waikiki Cross,” and to this day, he treasures his one-of-a-kind tribute to the fallen officer and the touching thank-you cards he received from his family.
Workman, who graduated from the Holland School for Jewelers in Selma, Alabama, also owned a jewelry store called “Romancing with Stones” in Panama City Beach, Florida. It was there that he met his wife, Lisa. The two moved to Crestline, her hometown, seven years ago.
Lisa, who’s president of The Community Foundation for Crawford County, is also a diehard pickleball player, so maybe she’ll be one of the first to “sport” the new pendant. A special gift from a master jeweler, the guy known simply as “B-Man.”
