Today we’d like to introduce you to Melissa Cohen.
Hi Melissa, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I was living in Atlanta after graduating college and working in a corporate job where I felt lost and unfulfilled. A friend of mine asked if I wanted to take a metalsmithing course once a week at a local arts center and I jumped at the chance. After we finished our first project, (a silver ring I still have), I had this overwhelming feeling that I’d just figured out what I wanted to do with my life. It almost seemed crazy how quickly and how intensely I felt, but I just knew!
A few months after that class, I ended up moving to New York where I continued taking jewelry classes with various teachers around the city. I started selling on Etsy and at local craft fairs and was making jewelry for all of my friends. A couple of years later, I was asked to design my first engagement ring. Once I got a taste for the custom side of the business, there was no turning back. Over time, I became a word-of-mouth jeweler, mainly making wedding and engagement rings as well as other one-of-a-kind custom pieces.
After living in New York for 10 years and having our daughter, my husband Sam and I decided we wanted to slow our lives down and be closer to my family, so we moved to Savannah, Georgia. Once I started to check out the art scene and meet other small business owners, I realized just how many amazing things were happening in this city and that I wanted to build a stronger presence for my business here. I decided to look for studio space, so I could finally separate my home from my work and have a place I could meet with clients that wasn’t the local coffee shop.
I got really lucky and quickly found an unbelievable studio in the Starland District. This is the area of Savannah that reminds me the most of Brooklyn, bustling with artists and cool local shops and restaurants. I happened to move in just as the pandemic was hitting, March of 2020, so I decided to concentrate on making the space really beautiful and cozy until I was ready to start having people visit. The studio is so large that I was able to turn the front into a showroom and the back into my jewelry workshop.
Now that things are feeling safer, I have clients come in by appointment to meet with me and discuss custom projects, peruse my vast gemstone collection, and do some jewelry shopping. I have glass cases full of one-of-a-kind pieces and am always working on something new to add to the showroom. After 15 years, I’m still just as obsessed with designing and creating jewelry as ever before and I’m always grateful for that little class I took in Atlanta that changed my life!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The hardest transition for me was going from making jewelry on the side of a full-time job where I didn’t have to think as much about it makes me a living to jewelry being my main source of income and having to make sure I was making pieces that people really wanted and wanted to spend their money on.
Also, making sure I was pricing things correctly to make a profit-I still struggle with that at times.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a jewelry designer that specializes in bespoke fine jewelry, mainly wedding and engagement rings, but I also love to redesign family heirlooms and turn them into something fresh and modern that will then become its own family heirloom. I’d say what sets me apart from others is my approach. I’m more of a friend than I am a business type.
I still sort of work on a handshake style like the old days and I really care about what I do and the quality of my work. I am a perfectionist to a fault, so I genuinely want my customers to be happy and to love their jewelry. I’m inspecting every aspect of the project, the piece, the stones, and I try and educate along the way.
I love involving my clients in the process. I’m most proud of the word-of-mouth business I have built over time. It’s such a rewarding feeling to see happy clients passing my name to other people.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
This industry is changing so quickly and I feel like the resources I work with are getting scarcer and more expensive. Suppliers of chains and materials are going up because of Covid and manufacturing issues in other countries.
I am also seeing a big change when it comes to 3D modeling and fewer people doing things by hand. Gold will probably keep rising, so jewelry pricing will most likely continue to go up as well. It’s tough to think about because it means jewelers have to take a hit or raise prices, which is not fun to think about.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.metalsugar.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/metalsugarjewelry
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/metalsugarjewelry
- Other: www.pinterest.com/metalsugar
Image Credits
Brett Davis and Jomo Media Group
