Nearly Half of Jewelers Stock Locally Themed Jewelry

44% YES, I DO

• Popular local/regional items are jewelry made to celebrate our heritage … pecan charms, Mississippi River pendants, books by local authors, fleur de lis anything. — Joanna Wurtele, Point Coupee Gallery, New Roads, LA
• We are in Madison, WI, so we have a lot of Bucky Badger items. They make up only 1 percent of volume, but we would not be without them. — John Hayes, Goodman’s Jewelers, Madison, WI
• We sell our Southern Alberta gemstone ammolite, and have done so for over 30 years. It accounts for about 7 percent of gross sales, and is created in silver, gold and gold-plated items. — Lisa Corbin, Tompkins Jewellers, Lethbridge, AB, Canada
• We started crafting charms of the various historical monuments of the city in the ’80s and continue to release new charms each year. — Jonathan McCoy, McCoy Goldsmaith & Jeweler, Dubuque, IA
• Our Montana Yogo sapphire rivals the Kashmir sapphire in color and quality. The price however restricts some buyers on larger sizes of this variety. — Murphy McMahon, Murphy McMahon & Co., Kalispell, MT
• There is a large equestrian community here, so we carry horse-related items (horseshoe rings, pendants, earrings, items with bits and stirrups, etc.). — Ben Brantley, Ben Brantley & Co., Shelbyville, TN
• We created the B+ bead for bracelets to help the Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation, which offers financial aid to families of critically ill children. It has moved very well. — Nancy Carbonetti, Stephen’s Jewelers, Wilmington, DE
• We have an extensive collection of officially licensed collegiate jewelry that we sell in our store, on our Facebook store, and at the football stadium on game days. We live in a college town and promote our collegiate jewelry to the community and alumni. — Annette Kinzie, Leonard Jewelry, Stillwater, OK
• I had custom shamballa bracelets made with local team sport colors. I donate 100 percent of the profits to the team. — Dorothy Retzke, Krystyna’s Jewelry, Chicago, IL

56% NO, I DON’T

• Tried it, but nothing seems to move to make the investment to do a special item worth the time and effort. — Lex Harrison, G M Jewelers, San Jacinto, CA
• If the low-quality, low-price jewelry chain stores local to us carry it, we won’t. Besides, we deal with a lot of people from out of town, and it just does not suit their needs. — Deric Metzger, DeMer Jewelry, Oceanside, CA
• Nothing of the quality that we demand is available. — Mark A. Young, Mark A. Young Jewelers, Oxford, MI