A few years ago, I saw a necklace in a museum shop in Montreal. I really wanted it, but it was expensive. When I came home from vacation, my friend said to me "why don't you make it yourself? I'll show you how to do it." This was a revelation to me and I've been making jewelry every since. I am self taught (I have a Ph.D. in philosophy, no design degree) but I love being creative in any which way.

I've always been a self starter, and motivated to try new things. I like keeping busy, and my hobbies and my jobs tend to blend into one. This is a good thing, because you shouldn't waste your life doing things that you don't enjoy. Gemstones are my passion, and I hope that my item descriptions and photos communicate this.

My shop grew together with my customers. Most of them are regular buyers, they make suggestions, provide feedback, and they tell me what works and what doesn't. Being creative is a collaborative effort, all you need is to be willing to work hard and to have an open mind.

I get help with making my jewelry, in part because my shop is now too busy for me to run it on my own, and in part so I can offer more variety to my customers. I use Taba Casting, a casting service in NYC (if I tried casting in my condo, I think the Jersey City Fire Department would have a melt down, no pun intended). Taba is certified green and they cast in over 20 different alloys. They are a small family business and I love working with them. I highly recommend Taba to other jewelers on Etsy.

I also have two assistants, Johanna and Karen, who are my right and left hand. Johanna has her own Etsy shop and she deals with newsletters, graphic design and social media. Karen is responsible for our shipping, catalogs and prices, as well as some client interaction.

Finally, I use a setter, Pierre (you can read about him in my blog). The setting work I like (a lot of pave work with mill grain) is far beyond my own expertise and Pierre has worked in the business for over 30 years. He has set for Cartier, Tiffany's, and many other design houses, but runs his own shop out of 47th street. The standard for setters is not to guarantee the stones they set, however, which is why I cannot set stones that I did not source myself.

Since 2016, I have been traveling on location to buy gems, in addition to sourcing at the famous Tucson and Vegas shows. I've been to Madagascar, Tanzania and soon will be going to Colombia. Please check out our videos on YouTube and our blog.

To find out more about my practices, go to my blog at https://www.cecileraleydesigns.com/blogs/cecile-raley-designs