Jim Hatadis is a multi-faceted gentleman.

“I hear that you are something of a prospector,” I commented in conversation with Hatadis on a cool day.

“More of a miner, really,” he says. “A prospector is a guy who goes out with his metal detector or his gold pans or he just floats down the river on an inner-tube looking for glints of gold. I work a mine for about three months out of the year, running dredgers and getting the metal. I do some prospecting, but mostly mining,” describes Hatadis.

Hatadis takes a little encouragement to get started, but once he starts to talk about mining, the joy comes into his voice. He has been mining in the Gold Country for 32 years. Between that and his jewelry store in Placerville, he says, “I have found true happiness.”

He is in constant contact with his wife, Jean, when he is away, and his stepson, master jeweler Michael Bowling, has the same passion as his stepfather. “You don’t choose gold mining,” Hatadis says, “it chooses you.” He has reserves of gold that allow Hatadis and his son to create volumes of truly custom and artistic jewelry. The gold fever, however, runs deeper than that. Hatadis continues to work the mines out of a passion and genuine love for mining.

For more about Jim Hatadis, and other local happenings and information, be sure to pick up this month's copy of Style – El Dorado County Foothills edition. Click on the Get Your Copy link on this Web site for some of our newsstand locations; click on the Subscribe link on this Web site to become a regular subscriber, or to order a copy of this issue or one of our back issues, please email  [email protected], or call 916-988-9888.