Dreams Come True as Creativity and Baubles Sparkle
Susan DelVecchio launched her line, Susi D. Jewelry in the summer of 2008, after years of taking classes, creating jewelry and perfecting new techniques.
Susi D. Jewelry is versatile, elegant, and feminine as each piece is designed and sculpted by hand, resulting in timeless pieces suitable for every woman. She adds just the right amount of shimmer to accentuate the beauty of the wearer. Susan also tries to evoke warm playfulness in each piece by creating hand forged frames for stones rather than traditionally setting them. By mixing methods and materials, she can make each piece elegant enough for a special occasion, but light nd simple enough to wear every day.
As a practical girl, she studied Business and Hotel Management in Frankfurt, Germany where she learned how to run a business. Her hotel management background provided her with the opportunity to come to the United States, where she met a designer and ultimately set on her path of creating her own business. She never had formal college training and only took several classes run by local artists and arts organizations to expand her knowledge of art, design, and jewelry making.
Upon arriving to the United States from Germany, Susan developed a friendship with a high-end jewelry designer and tagged along on his shopping trips to stone suppliers, diamond dealers and estate auctions. She was immediately fascinated by the designs of the vintage jewelry pieces he acquired, the vast array of brilliantly colored stones available, and especially the beautiful pieces that were ultimately created. But Susan soon realized that such magnificent pieces were all high end and outside of an average woman’s price range. “Something in me clicked, and I thought…this is something that I could do, I could fill that niche,” she recalls. So she set her mind on creating her own jewelry line that would still employ precious and semi precious stones and metals, but at an affordable price.
As a child, her parents bought her every kind of craft and she also made paper cut-out dolls, masks, animals, buildings, and everything else. “I grew up when Germany was still divided, but when the wall came down, I was twelve and finally able to get my first Barbie. I designed and made clothes for her, built her furniture, and even made her jewelry. I like to believe that I had the best dressed Barbie in town!” As a teenager, she enjoyed photography, clothing and graphic design. Susan even got the chance to design a logo for her parents’ marketing company during her internship with a graphic design company. It took her a few years to realize that even though she loved designing, her true passion was working with her hands to turn designs into something tangible. As it turns out, designing and making jewelry just made sense.
Growing up in East Germany, her family lived simply and jewelry was scarce as they were not surrounded by opulence and ornamentation. Susan recalls her mother had stud earrings made for her from old silver spoons brought to the goldsmith and that if she lost one, a new pair would have to be made. The ritual made her regard jewelry as something very special as she still has some of those lovely, individual stud earrings in her jewelry chest. “My mother’s gifts to me made me understand how important each piece of jewelry can be to its owner, and how sentimental the gift of jewelry truly can be,” says Susan.
Susi D. Jewelry is unique because Susan looks for a balance between fine and beaded jewelry. Because she loves pieces with a handmade look, she infuses new elements to fine jewelry to each beaded design by using stones or metals in unusual combinations.
Susan always carries a notepad to scribble or doodle anytime and has even been known to use a pocket light at the movies to scribble on a notepad after seeing an amazing necklace onscreen. Her inspiration can strike at any moment from a walk with her dogs, watching movies or television, browsing magazines and books, or people watching at lunch. Even having her two and a half year old daughter wrap random strands of beads around her arm as a bracelet is inspiration. “All you have to do is be open to it, and keep a trusty notepad handy,” she reveals. After collecting her snippets, notes, and sketches, Susan puts together “inspiration boards” that look like big collages, up on the walls of her studio. The boards continue to grow over time and when she starts on a new collection, she just picks up a board and goes from there.
Susi D. Jewelry is exclusively sold online, at trunk shows, special events, private showings and expanding into retail boutiques and stores. In the near future, Susan hopes to work with a small team in a larger studio and reach more customers nationwide and internationally. She currently maintains several seasonal collections to retain the line’s originality but introduces new designs monthly to keep up with current trends. Susan wants to continue expanding each line while also introducing new and interesting combinations of materials, stones, and designs. On a larger scale, she would like to do philanthropic work and share her blessings with those less fortunate worldwide. At the moment, she donates pieces to charity auctions and works with a charity called Build A Nest which provides micro loans to woman in third world countries.
Susan runs her business, designs, and makes all jewelry herself with the help of friends who offer their ideas and a talented mentor, Bonnie Riconda, designer and owner of Calico Juno Designs. She prefers working with precious and semi precious stones, gold and silver.
Susan considers herself extremely luck to have traveled around Europe and other parts of the world since they all influence her jewelry in different ways. She was dazzled by the array of brilliant colored gemstones in Brazil while inspired by the timeless elegance of jewelry in Paris boutiques. Her visit to Prague, Munich, and Vienna, showed her the jewelry collections of royal houses and the history of jewelry as far back as the Middle Ages. It was then she realized that the need to decorate ourselves has always been an essential part of who we are as human beings. In all her travels, Susan tries to learn the culture of the people and how they view and incorporate jewelry into their everyday lives. The next stop on her travel list is to visit some of her stone suppliers in India and Thailand.
In her spare time, Susan loves spending time with her family and partaking in photography, which remains a big part of her life. Susan reminds us that everyone has dreams and hers of becoming a jewelry designer came true. She encourages dreamers to follow their dreams even if it means taking small steps in their spare time, between putting kids to bed or cleaning the house. “Even if your dreams seem to be far away and unattainable, each step will get you a little bit closer, and the dream will stay alive. And while you are out following your dreams, be sure to wear some jewelry you love, it will make you feel beautiful inside and out,” Susan shares.
