I have been obsessed with jewelry since childhood. At the age of 5, I buried all of my mother’s real jewelry in a huge walk-in closet while she was away on a holiday. She returned, only to shriek that she had been robbed. 

I happily recounted my protection plan, having taken great care to camouflage her cache of real gems. I had found her to be very irresponsible to just have jewelry in a box on her dresser. 

Under all of the pressure of my mother’s scorn, it took me a long while to remember where I had stashed them. I had scattered them among sweaters, in the points of shoes and inside rarely used purses.

Flash forward to today: I have my childhood trinkets stashed away in my old boots, purses and drawers, boxed within boxes within boxes, hoping to slow down even the most thorough robber. 

If Inspector Poirot were to miraculously find my secret hiding places, he would discard the objects as having little or no value.

But to me, if they were to vanish, so would a connection to my past that I could never reclaim. 

I remember exactly how I came to own each treasure, carefully selecting each piece to create a memory of a trip or a birthday money splurge. I enjoy occasionally stumbling upon them, smiling when I peek into a box, finding them still safe and hiding in a good spot. 

A pony pin, a copper charm bracelet, a daisy brooch, a ring missing its birth stone, a choker with my name woven in seed beads, a collection of Girl Scout pins and others all remind me what I loved as a little girl. I wore these jewels with great aplomb and cherished their legacy.

This preoccupation with the heritage of my jewels is how I have become the Jewelry Whisperer. We know each object we own, and we know how it came into our lives. If an object appears out of nowhere, it is suspect.

Protecting your grandmother’s baubles is my mission. I also believe they can be changed, cleaned or improved to ensure that you enjoy them.

I enjoy nothing more than creating five necklaces out of a one-strand necklace so that each female family member has a piece of her past. I have revitalized many short strands of pearls that just scream 1950s into longer, more wearable heirlooms. 

I loved adding a deceased father’s wedding ring to a bride’s charm bracelet for her wedding day and restyling boring strings of beads into major va-voom. It is my pleasure to see vintage earrings with screw backs turn into adorable charms on necklaces, so they get to live again and be enjoyed.

Just like refinishing a piece of furniture, restyling and restoring jewels for today is a wonderful green alternative, and it is also responsible. Why should the dump be the resting place for our outdated sparkly heirlooms?

I want others to fight for your jewels when you die, not trash them. 

As the proud owner of more than 10 million beads and miles of vintage chain, I also have seen almost every bead made since the ‘40s. I work with four tractor trailers of old products from the height of the fashion jewelry craze: the 1940s – ‘60s. It has been a real trove and education.

During the ‘70s, sparkles waned and waxed into hippy hemp and peace signs; fabulous pearls and rhinestones became passé just like girdles, hats and gloves. 

Then in the ‘80s, China opened its cheap product doors, and slowly, the family-owned USA jewelry businesses died off. Providence, R.I. (which was then the home of the jewel industry and had worked hand-in-hand with the New York City fashion district), lost its foothold to cheaper imports. 

Today, those factories house mostly jewelry ghosts in large, boarded-up, brick buildings in the city’s downtown core. Only a few companies have survived.

As a partner with Swarovski Crystal, I was invited to its headquarters in Providence recently, and I made it a point to visit the companies I work with in that area. I visited the few flourishing ones still open today, which, for the most part, are in their original buildings with many 30-year-plus, long-term employees.

My electroplater doesn’t even list the name of the company on his building because the company recoats coins from the U.S. mint with gold. It has helped his passion thrive. 

I loved seeing him work and having him explain the process of plating items from major fashion brands today from brass, base metal or even plastic with rhodium, sterling silver and gunmetal. It is a lost art.

I also use a metal stamping shop for my logo tags and metal charms from Providence.

And another vendor, my most beloved company, still hand-presses tiny Swarovski crystals into brass settings, using machines from the glory of another era. 

A few chain companies are also in that area, making some of the finest and largest chains I have ever found on the market. 

These tags, chains and settings I design are then sent by car a few blocks to the electroplater to complete the process. They work in synergy to make amazing products, all made in the USA, which mean my designs are totally made in America.

Being able to get products within a week is also a bonus for me. I can have a vision, then by the end of the week, it is a finished product. China cannot compete with that speed with shipping times included.

I love and support every U.S. manufacturer, and am proud to send them photos of the products I design with their babies. I love making jewels and guiding others to love their jewels again!

For more information, contact Gay Isber, aka Sugar, the Jewelry Whisperer, at gayisber@gmail.com, or visit www.gayisber.com.