Jewelry Event Grows from Humble Beginnings

Judging by the flurry of customers crowding the Crowne Plaza ballroom, you’d never guess the origins of Sabika Austrian Crystal Jewelry’s Christmas in June event.

“It started in my kitchen when we were still a very small company,” said Karin Mayr, president of Sabika, a home-party business that now is in more than 30 states. “We did it in my house for two years, and the third year we moved into a hotel.

“Now we are at a point where we do the sale for three days in Virginia and three days here in Upper St. Clair.”

The third day is today (Friday), from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and visitors might include folks with an attitude similar to Maggie Urda, who drove from Uniontown to check out the jewelry Thursday at the Crowne Plaza Pittsburgh South on Fort Couch Road.

“It’s one of the most beautiful jewelry lines I’ve ever seen,” she said. “I get tons of compliments when I wear it. People tell me all the time, oh, that’s a beautiful necklace; I’ve never seen anything like that. It’s unlike anything that you see in the mall, in the jewelry stores.”

Mayr, a native of Austria and longtime Upper St. Clair resident, co-founded the company 11 years ago. The jewelry line, much of which features Swarovski crystal, is handmade in her home country and in neighboring Germany.

“It’s a very enjoyable experience because I get to meet the customers personally,” she said about Christmas in June. “It’s like a big Sabika party. People sit down and exchange ideas, mix and match in front of mirrors, give each other advice, and they become very friendly with each other.”