Love Locked

Jan 12

In their own words

“My store is filled with items from $3 to $30,000 and up, so there’s something for everyone. It’s a small boutique with a vintage feel, all the furniture is vintage, and the jewelry is beautifully made. I like every piece that I sell, and have a story to tell about the artist who handcrafted it. There are little notes talking about the different types of metals and stones. It’s educational when you come here, but most of all, it’s calming.”

-Kerry Lynn

Jason’s Interview with Kerry

Jason

We're back on Meet the Jewelers, and we're talking to Kerry Lynn from Love Locked in New Jersey City, New Jersey. How did you get into the jewelry industry?

Kerry

When I was seventeen, I started working for that charm bracelet from Italy called Nomination; it was kind of a fad. I got to learn a lot about different metals, different stones, the production of putting a bracelet together. It was really inspiring. That was my foray into jewelry.

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Jason
Why did you choose it?

Kerry
It was a long road, actually. After I stopped working at Nomination, I went to school and became an English teacher, and then I started working for a nonprofit. I was always interested in working with people, especially artists, in a shared trade environment. I tried to be a part of nonprofits that did fairly artisan-traded goods. That got me really excited about jewelry, home goods, and apothecary. After that, one of my friends approached me, and she was like, “Jersey City really needs a jewelry store. What do you think about opening?”

Jason
What is it like when we enter your store?

Kerry
My store is filled with items anywhere from $3 to $30,000 and up. There's something for everyone when you walk in here. It's a small boutique, a very vintage kind of feel inside, all the furniture vintage. I personally like every single piece that I sell and have a story to tell about all the artists. There's little notes and signs everywhere, talking about different types of metals and stone. It's educational when you come here; it’s calming.

Jason
What do you think sets it apart?

Kerry
I carry a variety of styles. We carry 144 artists right now, but thirty-two of them are local. I think people also really like that local effect. My employees are incredibly knowledgeable. I'm always happy to help a customer and bend over backwards for them. If they need an engagement ring dropped off the night before, I'm happy to bring it to their house. We're flexible in making sure that the customer is ecstatic with their piece.

Jason
I know you have a lot of designers; tell us some of the key ones that are top for you?

Kerry
I love Marrow Fine. They are just so lovely to work with. All their designs are really clean, beautiful, and modern. They have this amazing following who are excited to come in and see their pieces. They are on the West Coast, so I’m the only person on the East Coast that carries them. We’re also carrying Digby & Iona. He is an incredible craftsman. All of his pieces are wax carved and meticulously put together. Jennie Kwon, of course. Her aesthetic is always unique, really beautiful. We also carry Everett. Her name is Allie Nelson, and she's based out of LA. She makes these beautiful wedding bands that go with any type of design. Her wedding bands look good on vintage settings but also look really great on hyper-modern ones. All those names that I mentioned use recycled gold and ethical stone sourcing. They're good people to stand behind. I'm excited to see where it's going to evolve and just making sure that the artists are getting paid fair wages and that all of the stones are being sourced in an ethical manner.

Jason
Tell us a good proposal experience.

Kerry
I’ve had proposals in here on the fly, actually two of them. One, two men came in, they were looking at wedding bands and they both decided, and then they both got down on their knees in front of each other and proposed in the store. It was so sweet and endearing. I also had another proposal in the store where the girl felt the ring, and she just fell in love with it, and he was like, “All right, let's go. We're ready.” It's been amazing to be a part of that.

Jason
Tell us a time where you were the hero and saved the day for a customer.

Kerry
A lot of times, somebody’s like, “I have to propose this weekend.” And I’m like, “All right, we can do this. Don't worry. I can either resize something that's in stock for you, or we can make something really quick on the fly.” That happens frequently. And then I'll drop it off at their job personally.

Jason
I want to give a shout-out to some of the charities that you stand behind.

Kerry
I love Healing the Children Northeast. They are a 501(c)(3) that travels around the world with nurses, basically a whole operating team, and they perform free surgeries for kids with cleft lip, cleft palate, and other facial deformations. It's just an amazing organization. They're based in Connecticut. I used to volunteer for them.

Jason
When it comes to jewelry creation, what's your favorite part of the process?

Kerry
I like stone selection. It gets me really excited. Trying to get to know my customer’s design that they have in mind and delivering an epic, show-stopping stone is my favorite part.

Jason
What's your vision for the next five, ten years?

Kerry
I want to keep growing my business in the way that it's been growing. I would like to expand my line more. I would love to see a whole story wall with all the customers that we’ve done rings for. I love seeing people send their brothers and sisters for their five-year anniversary ring after they've gotten something from me. It’s exciting to see a return customer but also see their family members.

Jason
Given so many great jewelers around the area in the northeast, why should people trust you?

Kerry
People should come here because we have an amazing range of items, but we're also careful and will do anything to make sure the piece is 100% what the customer wants.

Jason
Here's your platform. You can say whatever you like.

Kerry
I'll do anything to make sure their creative vision is going to come to life and that everything is going to be ethical.