About Us
Where Stones Meet Story
I've been making jewelry basically forever. I took classes, learned from people who were better than me, and spent years getting my hands dirty with metal and stones. But I never once thought of it as a real career. Not until a woman at Carmine's on Rush Street in Chicago changed everything.
I was waitressing. She liked my necklace. I figured she was being polite. Then she asked to buy it. I laughed. She didn't. She pulled out her checkbook (yes, a checkbook, that's how long ago this was) and wrote me a check for $250. Right there at the table. A woman saw something handmade on another woman and wanted the story behind it. That moment became the whole thing.
The Chicago Years
I started doing trunk shows at Bloomingdale's and Saks Fifth Avenue, which sounds very glamorous until you remember I was also working at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and basically running on espresso and adrenaline. But the Opera donors started buying my pieces, and word spread the way it does when something is personal. One woman tells another.
I'd been writing to the Nordstrom buyer for what felt like forever. Radio silence. Then Women's Wear Daily ran an article on me and that buyer called while I was sitting at my now-husband's rugby game. I was 100% sure it was a friend messing with me. It was not.
That call led to Nordstrom. Then Saks. Then Barneys New York. I opened three retail stores in Chicago and sold to retailers across the country. We won Best Jewelry Store in Chicago five years in a row. And honestly? I think part of that is because most jewelers are men. It helps when you actually wear the stuff you're making.
Featured In
Along the way, my work has shown up in Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, InStyle, Lucky Magazine, and O, The Oprah Magazine. It's been on heaps of women whose names you'd recognize and plenty of women whose names you wouldn't, which honestly is the part I like best.
From Chicago to Steamboat Springs
When my first son Jack came along, I kept the whole machine going. When I got pregnant with my second, I decided to stop pretending I could do everything and actually be with my boys. So I hung it up.
We moved to Steamboat Springs, Colorado because we wanted mountains and bikes and snow days and a life that didn't revolve around trunk show calendars. It was the best decision we ever made.
Now that my boys are older, I have the time (and, let's be honest, the itch) to design again. But this time it's different. No wholesale pressure. No department store deadlines. Just beautiful stones, real intention, and the stories that connect a piece of jewelry to the woman wearing it.
Design Philosophy
Here's what I believe: every piece of jewelry has a story. Who gave it to you? Why? What were you celebrating, or surviving, or just getting through when you put it on? That's what I design for. Not trends. Not status. Story. Stunning personal iconography.
I also design for real life. Here in Steamboat, you can't set stones too high because the women need to get their ski gloves and bike gloves on and off. That tiny detail tells you everything about how I think. Jewelry should be beautiful, obviously. But it should also be livable. It should move with you, not slow you down.
Ethically Sourced, Handcrafted in the USA
One person's jewelry story should never begin with another person's tragedy. Full stop. Every gemstone I use is ethically sourced. Our metals are 100% recycled gold and silver. We work exclusively with Responsible Jewellery Council certified suppliers who follow the Kimberley Process for conflict-free diamonds.
Every piece is handcrafted in the United States by skilled artisans who are paid fairly and treated like humans. That's not a tagline. It's just how we do things.
Come Find Your Story
Whether you're designing something custom, picking out a birthstone for someone you love, or swinging by our GemBar in Steamboat for a permanent jewelry session, I'd love to help you find the piece that feels like yours.