Exquisite, Unique Jewelry Now on Warren Street

Last minute shoppers looking for a unique, one-of-a-kind gift for a loved one may want to check out Kristin Kennedy Fine Jewelry Design, a new shop that just opened on 30A Warren Street, just west of Main Street.

This is the first retail venture for Kennedy, who has been a jeweler since she was a teenager. She went to college to study English with a minor in Art with a jewelry concentration but then switched to a Fine Arts degree, all the while making jewelry. She also took courses at the Gemological Institute of America in Carlsbad, CA. 

Kennedy did a two year apprenticeship at the Gold Door Gallery in Sedona, AZ, and learned a lot about the business, from selling to different stores and interacting with stone dealers to learning how to run her own business. She utilized those early relationships to open doors and obtain the unique stones and chains that she has been using since the late 1990s, as a self-employed craftsman, creating commission work and through the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen. 

All the pieces in the shop were designed and completely handmade by Kennedy and, as any customer can see, are totally unique, she said.

“Most customers appreciate that,” she said, “they don’t want the punch out, stamp out (chains and jewelry). I can order that. But I also spend time working with chains (and other things) around the designs I’ve created.”

Kennedy often works with pearls, gold and silver, and diamonds. Some of the pieces are intricate, with gold petals; others are fragile, with polished, soft hues and rounded edges. She doesn’t have a favorite material to work with but noted that she liked working with the larger stones because the pieces can really stand out.

“I like to think that my work is primarily sculptural … so I can design work around the stones,” she said.

Kennedy works with wax as a molding and then solders the pieces together. She finds it a bit difficult to cut the stones so she often buys the stones first and designs the pieces around the stones.

“There just like that,” she said, pointing to a large set of Prasiolite and Labradorite earrings. “I realized (early on) how difficult it was too, to cut stones.”

Some pieces can take about four hours; others longer. Prices range from $150, for some of the silver pieces, to $2,600, depending on the piece.

The next move for Kennedy will be to put together her workshop studio in the back of the Warren Street location so that she can make the jewelry while meeting and greeting customers in the retail store.

“It came to the point that I was traveling a lot to sell pieces and show pieces and I had all this inventory already,” she said. “And I thought, ‘I might as well … I should try find a place just to showcase, in a space where I can work also …’ and since I’m going to have to be here anyway ...”

For more information, visit kristinkennedy.com.