Ward then moved to Colorado, where he joined the gay Rocky Mountaineer Motorcycle Club and further experimented with piercing, genital in particular.

Ward pioneered many jewelry designs including the fixed bead ring and internally threaded barbells.

"[3] With funding from Malloy (derived from his work with the Muzak corporation), Ward began using his home as a private piercing studio in 1975.

Dubbing his studio the Gauntlet, he drew an initial clientele from a mailing list provided by Doug and by running classified ads in local gay and fetish publications.

After three years of continued refinement with techniques and equipment, Ward opened the Gauntlet as a commercial storefront operation in West Hollywood on 17 November 1978.