As Marks of Design turns 14 in October this year, owner Kate Marks remembers when her store was one of few in a then-rougher Downtown Shelton.
"I was called the pioneer of downtown," Marks said recently.
With more than 20 years' experience in the diamond industry, Marks said she and her husband have developed keen eyes for a good diamond. She can obtain diamonds that meet a customer's specifications.
They make annual diamond-buying trips to Antwerp to complete custom orders, which is a large part of their business.
Marks discovered her calling at 18 in college when she was studying child psychology. She took what she thought would be a "blow off" course in metal working, and decided she liked it more than her current major.
She eventually earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts, became a metal smith and got a gemological degree from the Gemological Institute of America. Today, at 46, she hasn't looked back.
"We have a great rapport with our customers," Marks said. "I do a lot of one-of-a-kind pieces. There are jewelry stores and there are owners who are jewelers."
She does most of her work in the store, where you'll also find her dogs relaxing in her office.
Marks recalled a moment in her business when a man had her make a diamond ring for their 30th wedding anniversary and wanted the engraving removed.
But the man's wife forcefully objected to removing the engraving when she saw it.
"She slugged him. She punched him," Marks said.
The store's Website is http://marksofdesign.com/, which she plans to update, and her Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/marksofdesign?fref=ts.
For more information, call 203-924-0030.
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