We're Open! The Loren Hope Atelier at The Paris Market

I am so excited to announce our partnership with The Paris Market. Over the last 2 years, owner Paula Danyluk and I have become dear friends, swapping a passion for all things glitzy, original, and eccentric -- and the Rhode Island jewelry industry is responsible for forming this special bond. 

My husband and I took a long weekend trip to Savannah with friends in November, 2016. I had always wanted to explore Paula's store as I knew it housed a case brimming with curious, somewhat bizarre rhinestone jewelry prototypes that emerged out of an old Rhode Island jewelry factory--an entire era of handcrafted molds that were on the verge being forgotten.  When I packed up everything to move to Rhode Island 5 years ago to chase my dream, I never knew I'd be reminded of that dream at The Paris Market.  Paula and I met and I felt an immediate need to divulge to her how I was Southern born, but had moved to Rhode Island for the sole purpose of creating this kind of jewelry. I told her about all the old factories that had gone out of business, that we were using vintage components and how crazy cool it was that this chunk of history was sitting in her shop.  It felt like a reminder -- it felt like serendipity.  

I ended up purchasing several of the strange, dust-covered rhinestone pieces and couldn't wait to bring them back to our Rhode Island studio to show everyone.

Fast forward to last year, I convinced Paula to come up and see our studio for herself. We spent two days talking about jewelry and sharing our excitement over playing with findings and stones (Talk about soul food...). We pronounced ourselves kindred spirits and knew we wanted to collaborate together.  

And that's where our gorgeous Atelier comes in... 

At our new Atelier, you will find a vast selection of styles, ranging from pieces from our most current line, reissued designs from our archives, to limited edition and one-of-a-kind pieces exclusive to The Loren Hope Atelier. 

We talk a lot of our vintage stone archive -- a room in our studio filled with old, dusty boxes falling apart from the weight of the stones within them. These boxes are filled with stones still in their wrappers -- many of which are colors and cuts that are no longer available. These stones are my treasures, because most of them were all handmade by glass artisans in Germany or Czech Republic -- a craft that is growing obsolete in the era of automation.  

It has been absolutely exhilarating to put these stones to use, and we are giddy with excitement by this newfound outlet to explore our creativity and design these super special pieces, allowing us to pursue our own passion but to pay respect to the original artisans themselves.  

The icing on the cake was re-creating the necklace prototype that I had purchased back at her store back in 2016. Paula wore it the night of our opening party. 

The case which houses part of our collection is the same case that once held all of the vintage factory pieces. The case's 20 drawers are each lined in velvet and contain the colors that are labelled. I wanted this case to feel exactly the way it made me feel -- like a treasure hunt. With special occasions in mind, the case is there for you to explore by color, and find a special piece that makes your outfit. 

Whether shopping for a gift, looking for your wedding day earrings, or hunting for something you can't find anywhere else -- I invite you to stop in and explore. Please drop me a line and tell me about your experience! 

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