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Courtesy of Collections by Joya
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Photo by Joan Fisher, courtesy of Collections by Joya
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Photo by Joan Fisher, courtesy of Collections by Joya
St. Louisan Betsy Blancett-Narcelli founded the jewelry line Collections by Joya in January 2016 to share the pieces she discovered while traveling. All the pieces in the line are handcrafted by international artisans, and a portion of the proceeds goes to supporting women worldwide.
We spoke to Blancett-Narcelli about the new spring and summer line and why it's important to give back.
Photo by Colin Miller/Strauss Peyton, courtesy of Collections by Joya
Betsy Blancett-Nacrelli
What inspired you to start Collections by Joya? Collections by Joya was created out of a love for traveling and collecting. I was in the furniture industry for 15 years and had the opportunity to travel to amazing places like Istanbul, Bali, and India. Inevitably, I started collecting jewelry from my travels and my friends would ask me to bring back jewelry for them as well. I had a lightbulb moment on one trip to Bali when I had 25 jewelry orders from friends. I thought there was a need and opportunity to bring the worldly, eclectic jewelry to customers here in the U.S.
What's your design process? We design the products here in St. Louis. I will sit down before each season and create a storyboard—creating a color palette and inspiration for each season. I even go so far as to give it a name. For example, our summer story will be called “Dessert Road Trip.” I send a copy of these storyboards out to all of the artists that make our jewelry. We then collaborate with the artists to create pieces that work. Each piece is created exclusively for Joya.
What are you working on for spring and summer? This January I went to India for two weeks and met with jewelry artists. I spent that entire trip designing our spring and summer lines, in some cases sitting next to the artists with a tray of loose gem stones pulling together color stories. On the trip, we found a few new artists we will be working with—one I am very excited about works with textured and mixed metals. We launched a geometrics collection in spring that has been selling really well. Their pieces are great layering pieces, which has provided the foundation on which we built the spring and summer collection. The entire brand is built on this layering idea. One of my favorite looks is the Dylan Horn pendant layered with the Luna Disk necklace. It creates a pretty palette, and I love the way those pieces play off each other.
Photo by Heidi Drexler, courtesy of Collections by Joya
Dylan Horn pendant layered with the Luna Disk necklace
Why sell subscription packages as well? The idea came up over brunch with my girlfriends, who were talking about all the back-to-school shopping they had to do. I asked them when the last time they bought themselves something, and no one could remember. We are all busy, so the subscription is perfect because it shows up on your doorstep with a piece of jewelry we select each month. We provide complimentary gift wrap with each order, in case you decide to regift it to a friend for a special occasion or as a thank you. The subscription is a unique idea for a Mother’s Day gift or a graduation gift.
Photo by Joan Fisher, courtesy of Collections by Joya
Why did you choose to donate a portion of your proceeds to charity? It was very important from the start that we had a platform of giving back, especially to women’s causes. I absolutely adore the people of Bali; everyone there is full of life and happiness. At the same time, there is a tremendous amount of poverty and need there. We discovered the Bali Life Foundation, which takes widows and children off the streets, and provides food, shelter, job training, education, and rehabilitation for those women and children. Not only do we give back directly to women's organizations, we employ female artisans, providing more and more employment as we grow. Socially conscious entrepreneurship is very important to me, and the first line of our business plan stated, “When women support each other, incredible things can happen.”
