Customized Jewelry With A Personal Touch
First Coast News, FL
First Coast News
JACKSONVILLE, FL — Finding the perfect piece of jewelry for yourself or as a gift can be difficult. Now a First Coast Trend is making it possible to buy jewelry made just for you.
Making your own jewelry is becoming very popular. But for those people who don’t have the time or don’t have the creative touch, you can have personal jewelry made at an affordable price.
Danielle Blumenberg of “db Designs” is just one First Coast Woman making the custom jewels, but her designs have a foreign flair at a good price.
“I really try to design and create affordable custom jewelry that is one of a kind,” says Danielle Blumenberg. “I want the jewelry to be as unique as each individual that will wear it.”
Blumenberg gives her bracelets and necklaces a personal touch by meeting with each person and letting them custom pick each bead and each aspect of the jewelry. She remembers one husband who took hours to pick just the right pieces. “This man must have loved his wife so incredibly much because for a necklace and earrings he spent three hours with me hand picking every single detail and component of the jewelry,” says Blumenberg.
Her business started by just making necklaces for herself but then her neighbors started asking if she could make similar pieces for them too. Blumenberg says the business just took off from there.
Blumenberg uses handmade Venetian and Murano glass imported from Italy. Each bead is handmade by wrapping a base bead with 24k white gold, yellow gold or sterling silver. Then the artist form the outer layer by wrapping the bead in brightly colored glass. “Each bead is in itself a work of art because everyone is different,” says Blumenberg.
The pieces also include a pick of Swarovski crystals, cultured pearls and sterling silver from Bali.
In addition to necklaces with venetian glass pendants, “db Designs” also features one, two and three strand bracelets made with beads of your choice.
Blumenberg also specializes in mother and grandmother bracelets. They are made with sterling silver and cultured pearls and personalized with the names of children or grandchildren. They are topped off with Swarovski crystals matching the birthstones of the kids.
Heather Stankard has bought several bracelets as gifts for family members. “These make the best gifts because they are personalized and people today love personalized gifts,” says Stankard. “I gave my niece a bracelet for christmas with her initials on it and she loved it.”
Most of Blumenberg’s customers find her prices to be affordable. The prices vary depending on the elements you choose. But most beaded necklaces cost about $60.00. For the larger venetian pendant necklaces in 24k gold most are about $50.00 and that includes an imported ribbon necklace to hold the pendant.
“My favorite consultation was with a mother and daughter for a homecoming dance,” says Blumenberg. “The young lady put on her homecoming dress and her shoes and the mom was just so excited to be able to have something made just for her daughter. A piece of jewelry she could keep forever that was heirloom quality. And the daughter was thrilled to have jewelry that no one else was going to have and it was all under a $100.00.”
Each month Blumenberg also donated a portion of her proceeds to a different charity. “Its nice to know that some of the money I am spending is going to help other people,” says Stankard.
Blumenberg runs the small business out of her home, making each piece of jewelry in her living room. “Every piece that walks out the door has my name on it,” says Blumenberg. “I want people to love it and I want them to have it forever. Everytime they look at it, I hope they say ‘wow'”.
