Meet Our Staff
Linh Nguyen – Owner, President, CAD Designer, Appraiser
Linh Nguyen was born in the war-torn country of Vietnam. Her father was an AR Vietnamese Captain. He was held captive in a political jail from 1975 to 1983 when the US Army and AR Vietnam lost the war to Vietnamese Communists. To help her mother support her five siblings, she began working at age 10 and later was involved in multiple businesses while attending high school. At age 13, she graduated with an electronics certificate and started working at her family’s electronics shop. In the aftermath of the war, her family was torn apart as they each tried to escape communism. The communist government discriminated against them and blocked them from entering good schools and achieving higher education. When she married at age 18, she opened first electronics store where she fixed and sold electronics and watches. She learned how to make jewelry by hand from scratch to finished goods in her own large office.
In search of freedom, an education, and a better life, her family members attempted many times to escape Vietnam. They lost one of her family members to the ocean on a treacherous journey. The rest of her family members made it to refugee camps in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand and eventually reunited in the United States. Her parents are now retired but her other siblings have become a Realtor, a Dentist, a Surgeon, an Engineer, and they each own their own businesses.
Left behind and alone in Saigon City from 1983, Linh had achieved success with her own business named Linh's Co. which she multiplied from one to six large electronics stores and employed about 100 employees. She reunited with her family in the United States in 1995. In spite of the business success she left behind in Vietnam, she wanted to become a pediatrician. Linh earned a BA in Biology in 2002 and a BS in Psychology in 2004 from the University of Texas at Austin. As a loving woman who put her own family first, she decided to put on hold her pursuit of medicine and take a new direction into the jewelry business.
While working for Ben Bridge Jeweler for three months, she sparked an extreme interest in Gemology and The Art of Making Jewelry. To gain more knowledge about gemstones and diamonds, she started attending courses at the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) and took a Bench Jeweler course at ACC. Then, she worked for Gordon’s Jewelers for another year. Finally, she worked for Kay Jewelers for half a year. Unhappy with the quality of the products and services provided in the big three chain stores, she realized that she could put her unique talents and skills to better use by working for herself, and returned to her entrepreneurial roots by opening her own store in 2005 in Austin, Texas. She graduated Pearls with GIA in 2006. She earned credits in Jewelry Business Management with GIA in 2007, and then completed her GIA Graduate Gemologist diploma in 2008. She earned a CAD Design Certificate with Gemvision in 2009 and she now owns the software and milling machine to design and cut wax to cast and turn it into finished jewelry. She gained the skills necessary to become a bench jeweler at Austin Community College and she never stopped learning new technology or new skills in jewelry design or the identification of diamonds and gemstones. She is currently attending a continuing education program for Graduate Gemologists with GIA. This training will update her yearly with new methods to identify diamonds and gems and stay up to date with what’s happening in gemology around the world. After 5 years at the first location in Austin, Texas, she moved her store to a bigger and better location in Cedar Park, Texas. Nothing makes Linh happier than working from her own ideas, delighting customers with her new designs, providing the best quality in merchandise, and offering only the best customer service. She has a full lab to grade diamonds, identify and grade gemstones. She also owns and operates her own Computer Aided Milling System – the latest technology for jewelry design and manufacture. American Blue Diamonds now offers complete custom design service from scratch to polished final product. She will work a design from an illustration, to wax, to cast, and to set the desired stones into a final scintillating one-of- a kind jewel just for you.
Dreams can become a reality, as her customers benefit from her truly superior standards for quality and customer service seasoned not only by her extensive years of past experience in the electronics business, but also sprinkled with her passion for pleasing her customers with the best in jewelry design.
Bring in your unwanted Gold, Platinum, and Diamonds for CASH today, and talk to them about the jewel of your dreams. They can buy your old jewelry or you can trade it in toward a new item. They can also set your heirloom stones into a new contemporary mounting in stock or turn it into a custom design from your idea so you can carry with it the heart and soul of your family members for years to come. They can issue appraisals for insurance purposes in one hour while you wait. In one stop, you can sell your gold; determine the type and value of the stones you have, and receive cash or a new piece of jewelry make your heart to dance again.
Huy Nguyen – Vice President, CAD Drafter, CAM Operator, Casting Jeweler, Photographer & Videographer.
Huy has been developing his artistic talents from a young age. As a child he loved to draw and admired his father’s illustrations. After spending most of his childhood in Vietnam, Huy attended middle school in Houston, and later moved to Austin with his mother for high school. Huy played on high school’s tennis team and excelled academically. After graduating from high school Huy attended UT for a degree in Computer Science but following some challenging Java classes, he switched his major to Engineering and enrolled at Austin Community College. At ACC, he earned his Associate of Science Degree in Engineering, and developed an interest in AutoCAD drafting.
After earning his Associate degree, Huy pursued an undergraduate Engineering program at the University of Houston. While at the University of Houston, he took some classes in their business program and found that he enjoyed learning about business more, so he began working towards a Bachelor of Business Administration.
Huy also took jewelry classes while he was at ACC and attended an intense weeklong jewelry drafting course in Dallas and learned to use CAD for jewelry design and to operate the Revo540c milling machine for jewelry manufacturing. Helping his mom to build out the store since its start in 2005, Huy has contributed lots of his ideas and labor towards the success of American Blue Diamonds.
Come in to see Huy in American Blue Diamonds and you will see this young man has a lot to offer. He can restore your old jewelry to like new condition in 10 minutes and give you nice before and after pictures of his work. He can take your old stones out and set them into a new design to your specifications. His work is meticulously detailed and artistically beautiful. He will surprise you with what he can do and give you happiness
RICHARD CORDES - Investor, Security, and Maintenance
Richard has been the owner of Fast and Fair Doors since 1984. Richard met Linh at the start of American Blue Diamonds when he installed 3 gates for her store in 2005. They fell in love soon after, and have been building their life together ever since. They have two boys named Opal and Topaz and have been married for 6 years. Despite being called a "weird couple" by their friends because they have so many differences in nationality (American/Vietnamese), culture, and education, they have made their relationship solid through numerous challenges.
Acting as a small investor and as the security and maintenance guy, Richard has been backing up Linh over the years and provided support on many occasions which has contributed to her overall success today. You will rarely see him in the store since he loves to work outdoors; however, he has trained with Stuller's jewelry workshop and fulfills daily responsibilities at American Blue Diamonds. Any time Linh needs a strong handy man, he is ready and willing to help out.
Richard brings a lot to American Blue Diamonds with his sound mind and keen eye for learning more about jewelry-making and the jewelry business, and he will continue to be a part of the team for years to come. Over time, Richard has become more and more engaged in the jewelry business that his wife has created and its success is proven its tremendous support from customers.
If you have the chance to meet Richard, you will find that he is a simple and fun guy and he works very hard to make you smile.
Terry Barner, the son of a career Army Father, was born in Fort Knox Kentucky. His life experiences growing up in a military environment gave Terry a unique appreciation of cultures in both the United States and in other countries. Growing up in a military family created many unique demands on his childhood. Each time his father changed duty stations, he changed location, schools, and friends. He graduated from Kubasaki High School in Okinawa, Japan where he first developed his love of gemstones and precious metals. Terry was introduced to gemstones on Okinawa and took advantage of the opportunities to use a lapidary, available to the military and dependants, and to design, cast, and cut stones to create unique gifts for his family and friends. Terry began his career in fine jewelry when he went to work for Zales Jewelers on Congress Avenue, Austin in 1977. He managed a store for Zale Corporation until 1985 when the location, then at NorthCross Mall, was sold to Barry’s Jewelers Corporation and he continued to work and manage stores at various locations for Barry’s Jewelers Corporation in Austin and Killeen, Texas until 1995. Terry also attended and received a certificate for computer programming from Durham Business College in 1977.
The career he started in retail jewelry has remained his primary passion. Terry managed Gordon’s Jewelers at Lakeline Mall from 1995 until 2010 and has continued to gain knowledge by taking courses and completing a diamond course from Diamond Council of America. He has completed the courses necessary to be recognized as an Accredited Jewelry Professional from the Gemological Institute of America, and has completed Diamonds and Diamond Grading, Colored Stone Grading and is currently continuing to complete the necessary courses to receive a certificate of Graduate Gemologist also from GIA. Most recently, Terry gained valuable experience working for Fast Fix jewelry Repair at Lakeline Mall.
The long term associations he has made developing and retaining new clients has kept Terry devoted to the jewelry industry. Many of his customers have become his friends. Terry is looking forward to working with Linh again, and with her staff. Terry has known Linh for a long time since he was her former manager when she worked at Gordon's Jeweler. They are good friends. Terry expects to continue to learn and grow in the jewelry industry because it has proven to be fulfilling and rewarding on many levels.
Please come to American Blue Diamonds to meet Terry - a fun and knowledgeable member of our team who will never fail to serve you.
