Naomi Lerner Tussin: Designing Jewelry for a Good 'Cause'

Naomi Lerner Tussin, who owns Naomi Jewelry in Avon, has always been a lover of jewelry, but for her its not just about glamour and profit.

“I wanted to create something fabulous and also wanted to create something good,” Tussin said.

When Elisabeth Talbot, a former Avon and Collinsville resident, was dying of cancer, she told Tussin, “I don’t have a legacy.”

Tussin, who started making jewelry in 2003, decided to immortalize her friend, whom she described as successful, smart and a wonderful mother.

In 2009, she launched The Elisabeth Collection, featuring Liz Is It necklaces, bracelets and earrings, as well as a junior version of the bracelet called Babette – Talbot’s nickname growing up. The distinctive feature of the Liz Is It necklace, besides square Bali silver beads and smaller pearls, is a single large pearl in the center.

“That’s who she was — elegant, centered and also dynamic,” Tussin said.

At least 10 percent of store proceeds for The Elisabeth Collection go to the Center for Integrative Medicine — a department that specializes in holistic healing techniques — at Hartford’s St. Francis Hospital, as per the late Talbot’s request.

That was not the last time Tussin created a line in honor of a lost loved one.

Tussin created the LoveMellissa jewelry line in 2011 to honor of her son, Jake's friend, Mellissa Andrew, who died in a car accident in Harwinton the previous September. She donated it to a silent auction at a golf tournament that Jake helped Conor McCarthy plan to benefit Smiles for Mellissa. The charity funded a new sign language program at Avon High School in honor of Mellissa, who signed to communicate with her younger brother, Aidan.

It was clear to Tussin that the bracelet needed to be lavender — Mellissa’s favorite color.

“I wanted to do something else that would make it hers,” said Tussin, who majored in graphic design at the University of Hartford in 1977.

So she added a charm of a hand signing, “I love you.”

The line is still sold at Autumn Light Studio & Gallery in Avon, Bill Selig Jewelers in Windsor and LaPerla Fine Jewelers in West Hartford’s Blue Back Square and 10 percent of sales benefit Smiles for Mellissa.

“Causes have always been big,” Tussin said.

And so it’s fitting that ‘cause by Naomi was the name of the first line that Tussin ever made in 2008 to support charities and local organizations.

Tussin, who has friends with kids on the autism spectrum, originally designed a silver bracelet with a puzzle piece charm to raise autism awareness.

West Hartford jeweler Bob LaPerla suggested conforming it to her signature —beads, Bali silver and silver “twists,” she said. Now, customers can buy any of her necklaces with a puzzle piece charm attached to the clasp.

Tussin contributes 10 percent of the proceeds to autism-related causes chosen by the buyers. Additionally, 10 percent of  ‘cause by Naomi collection sales at LaPerla between April 26 and Mother’s Day, May 13, will be donated to HARC, an organization that supports individuals with intellectual abilities. There will be a kick-off benefit on April 26 all day.

By the holidays, Tussin also hopes to bring on autistic individuals to help her package the ‘cause by Naomi boxes and sign their names on a card inside the ones they prepare. She came up with the idea to address a friend’s concerns about what her autistic son “would do for work.” She consulted with another friend, Chera Gerstein, who also has a son with autism, on the plan.

“She was excited about it and saw it as something her son might be able to do,” Tussin said.

Tussin's jewelry sells in about 10 locations in Connecticut and New Hamphire, as well as in Sweden, including the Farmington Valley Arts Center in Avon, Tapestry Rose in Rocky Hill and WAVE Gallery in New Haven.

“The joy in it is knowing that it’s also doing good,” Tussin said. “For Liz, it’s keeping her spirit alive. For Mellissa, it’s helping others to do what she was able to do with her younger brother. [Sign language] is how she was able to communicate with him. And with ‘cause, it’s spreading it around. It’s allowing the donation to be important to the person who is wearing the piece.”

Tussin makes her jewelry at her Avon home. For more information, you can contact her at 860-930-2882 or design@naomijewelry.biz.