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- She
found a "Hit Single" that it is so incredibly stunning.
One of those that just jumps from the case...Ancient Roman
Glass, 14th Century Mother of Pearl, Colonial Period vest coat
buttons... One of my rare pieces that can only be seen at the
Studio.
She casually
rolled it up and placed it upon her neck. "I want this. I
really do... " She tried it on. Mirrored it. We
worked together for the perfect fit ... Then I heard
something that I've never, ever, heard before...
"I love
it. I really do. My only fear is that if I wear this
necklace a second time - someone is going to take note of
it... I'm sure of it". "My only regret is that I really,
really want this necklace"...
(I've
been known to keep a secret.)
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- We've
been graced by Richmond's, and world, re-known "celebrity".
Those in the know. Those in the moment...our selective 'few'.
Then
there those who are 'a bit above' the celebrity level. More
like "royalty". Those few who make it look ever so simple.
They just seem to have that laisse faire about them... The
Greta Garbo types... And yes, there a few here in
Richmond.
She just
saunters. in ever so easily and makes herself so at home...
"Yes. A Michelle Pearl. And a Silver Michelle, too,,,.
I'll wear them together." How in the world did she find them
so quickly? The perfect match of two together...
Perfect for her. (She's never been here before and she
find's them in less than 4 minutes?!).
The cool
thing is that she was just as entranced with us and we were with
her. "I've heard so much about you". I was a little
overwhelmed, "Tell me about your trip to Italy..." We
talked about the Uffizi...Academia...Da Vinci.. Ferragamo...
And then
we pulled back to a collective moment when personalities split...
Sybil.
"Should I
get one, or two of these? Two,...maybe three. Two, for
me. One for my daughter. No... I'm not sure. Two
for me... one for her... These are just so incredible..."
I have to take at least three of these with me today..."
Sybil...
She brings out the best in all of us...
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- Client
Confidentiality...
An
unusual online order shows up for 12 necklaces , 4 bracelets and 7
pairs of earrings.
It was
the kind of order that makes you wonder. A few days pass
until we're able to really start putting it together.
Phone
call... "Hi ordered 12 necklaces and 7 pairs of earrings and..."
"And, I was wondering when you think that you'll be sending my
order out to me in Chicago? But, before you do, could we go
over everything so that I k now that it's going to right for me?"
Hmmm...a
voice behind the mystery adds shape to the order.
In
return, I say " Okay, I understand that you would like me to send
you 12 necklaces, 4 bracelets and 7 pairs of earrings. But I just
have to ask "How did you hear about us?""
"I'd love
to tell you,,, I really would. But I'm a marriage counselor,
and like a lawyer, I've signed a Client Confidentiality
Agreement that limits me from telling you who my client is."
I totally
understand. however, I have a funny feeling that her client is
going to notice during their next session...
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Completely nervous. We all know how it feels. Trying
to be confident and self-assured and in the same mind-set as the
potential 'boss'. And in today's world, every little edge is
well, an edge.
So
through the process she goes, Primped and proper.
Ready for every question with just the right answer. Coffee?
No thanks. A glass of water? Nope. Please have a
seat...
Is that
an on u necklace?
Common
ground... something we all need from time to time.
Needless
to say, congratulations are in order...
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Christmas was oh so wonderful at the Studio this year. I
know that is was crazy busy from Thanksgiving through Christmas
Eve... and while we may have seemed harried and overwhelmed during
the midst of it, little things stick out that make it all so
worthwhile...
I'm not
sure if it was the Monday, or Tuesday, before Christmas, Dad
stopped in with the little ones to get a gift for Mom. He
pulled out a printout with a Lola Love Necklace - which made it
pretty easy - Mom had printed the web page out and tucked it in
his briefcase. Wrapped and ready to go we asked the little
ones what they wanted for Christmas.. That's when things got a
little difficult for Dad.
"I want
an X-box and a Swiss Army Knife" said the little boy.
"And, if I'm lucky a slingshot". Dad smiled at the X-box
part. I don't think he knew about the slingshot, or the
Swiss Army Knife....
The
little girl beamed confidently...and quickly rattled off her wish
list as though it was tucked in her sleeve.... "My own cell
phone....an ipod...a Polyvore account and at the top of my
list...an on u necklace!"".
It's a
good thing Mom had stopped by the week before...
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One of
our customers found one of my Forever Knot Necklaces at a
consignment shop for $30. It was a great deal, considering
that they sell for $120 new.
It was in
pretty good shape, so she bought it. Not for herself, but as
a birthday gift for her mother-in-law.
She
didn't want to look like a cheapy when she showed it to her
husband, so she altered the price tag just a bit... writing in a
"1" in front of the "30".
"Look
honey, I got your mom something for her birthday." "An
on u
necklace that was $130, I hope that's okay". Of course he
agreed that spending that much for his Mom's birthday gift was
fine and dandy with him...
If he
only knew.
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I had a
customer come in this week, she had never been to the Studio
before, who was amazed at all of the pieces that I have and was
thrilled to finally be able to visit...
As she
explored all of the different styles, and designs, she gently
pulled a necklace out of her pocketbook. She told me that
she was surprised that it was falling apart after two years and
that it needed repair. I was surprised, too. My pieces
don't become frayed, or tattered, unless they are really worn
continually, and even then, they hold up really well.
Anyhow,
when she handed it over to me, I could definitely tell that it
wasn't one of my pieces. A dreaded knockoff. When I
told her that it was not an original, and that it was a copy
of one of my necklaces, she was horror-struck. "But it has
one of your tags on it!" And sure enough, it did.
After
showing her, in detail, what the original looked like, she
understood, and could totally see the difference. The tear
in her eye turned to anger. "You mean that someone had the
gall to copy your work and to even put one of your tags on it?"
she blurted. "That's disgusting!".
Sure
is...
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Congratulations to Susan Shaltry of Columbus, Ohio for her winning
entry in our first ever Facebook Giveaway! Susan has won a
Tyler... I
hope you enjoy her winning story!
- My son
recently turned 18-years-old. After the long haul of delivering
our child from the turmoil of pre-teen years to young adulthood
AND 19 years of marriage, my husband and I decided we deserved a
little get-away. My husband, Paul, being a longtime fan of The
Grateful Dead (long live Jerry) was thrilled when tour dates for
The Dead were announced and a show was within a half-day drive
from us. With tickets purchased and the concert date upon us, we
packed up the car for our drive to Charlottesville, VA and headed
off.
The show was fantastic as was the town of Charlottesville. The day
after our Dead experience, we decided to linger and look around
the Downtown Mall area before heading back on the road. I strolled
through shops in this quaint little shopping district and came
upon a little store called Pearl.
Ok, this is where the story becomes a bit disturbing because I
value the fact that I am a woman who knows my own mind and can
manage my own finances. But Paul gets a little antsy when he notes
I have spent a lot of time in any particular store. He tends to
try to rustle me out of stores before I make any 'unnecessary'
purchases. You know how they can be. Anyway, he saw me lingering
over the jewelry case and particularly noting the pieces that I
would come to find out were all On U creations. I couldn't take my
eyes off of the gorgeous, simple, freewheeling necklaces. I would
see one that I loved, talk about it, extol the virtues of the
handiwork only to see ANOTHER one equally as eye catching. This
went on for several minutes as the store clerk told me the story
behind Donna Silvestri and how she is a local artisan.
Knowing that we had just spent a tidy little sum on the tickets to
the show, the hotel, restaurant meals and fuel to make the trip, I
was hesitant to spend more on these pieces that I loved. All of a
sudden, out of nowhere, the words were uttered that I had NEVER
heard come out of my husband's mouth; "you should just get one for
yourself, hon". Huh? I looked around the store and, yep, we were
the only customers in there. "Really" he said "you never buy
anything like that for yourself". Mind you, I don't base my buying
decisions on my husband's permission to make purchases but it is
extraordinary that he actually ENCOURAGED me to buy something for
myself which, happily, I did!
Now, if On U jewelry can change my cheapo husband's behavior, even
if just for a day, there has got to be something special going on!
Susan Shaltry, Columbus, Ohio
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- The neighbor.
Here's a surreptitious email that
we received from one of our renowned customers.
"Hello...........She's done it again.....everything I have....she
has..........yikes!"
I'd keep an eye on your hubby,
if I were you...
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- The
Sugar Daddy...
The Silent
Auction room was set with a bounty of wonderful items; B&B packages,
beautiful oil paintings, gift baskets galore, and along with a
cluster of
other jewelry, one of my Michelle Necklaces. The
Silent Auction was for a fantastic cause, a Red Dress Gala to
support Cardiac Care.
As usual,
the bidding started out low,
and up until dinner, each item had been bumped up the price ladder by
reasonable bids...
Yet, my
Michelle Necklace, seemed to really be causing a stir.
The
announcement after dinner that only 15 minutes remained for
bids led many
back into the Silent Auction room to see where they stood.
You couldn't help but notice a crowd around the jewelry table.
Honestly, you couldn't even get close.
In
the final minutes, bids for the Michelle jumped from $480
to $650 to $800. Then, in one final swoop, the Sugar Daddy
unflinchingly said to the woman who had just placed what she
thought was the winning bid at $950, "I'm getting this necklace".
Calmly,
the Sugar Daddy nudged her away from the bid sheet, scribbled a
price of $1002, and walked away. A half second later,
the announcement was made that the bidding had closed.
Some were
seeing red... The Red Dress Gala was seeing green!
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- "Look
Mom! No cavities!"
Remember
when you were little and received a reward for not having any
cavities? Some of my customers continue the tradition when
they visit the dentist's office next door to us.
Dentist
office visit (check). Teeth cleaning (check). No
cavities (check). Stop by the on u studio and reward myself
for being a good little girl. Absolutely!
Makes
sense to me!
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- We have a customer in a
mid-western city that refuses to tell any of her friends where she
gets her jewelry. It's her discovery and she's keeping it a
secret. Forever.
Hint: Oklahoma.
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- Sorry that this one has taken a
little while to post...
It was
her first day at a new
elementary school. Quite shy and quite scared because she
didn't know a soul.
A smile crossed her face when
she noticed that the girl sitting beside her in their first grade
class was wearing a Candy Dots necklace, too. They
introduced themselves to each other and started to chat. She
felt so happy that she had met someone that she liked so much.
So they chatted some more, about
each other, about school, about clothes, and about their Candy
Dots necklaces. Both mentioned how they loved their
necklaces so much and hadn't taken them off since they had gotten
them early in the summer. They even traded necklaces because
hers was a little different than her new friend's. The new
teacher noticed the exchange and asked them to settle down a
bit...
Throughout the day, they
giggled, and whispered, back and forth over their necklaces until finally, the teacher had had enough.
Aghast, the teacher took each of
their necklaces for the rest of the day!
As she got off the bus, tears
streamed down her face when Mom asked how her first day of school
was. It was terrible! The teacher took my Candy Dots
necklace!
What made it even worse was that
it was a Friday, and the little one would be without her necklace
for the whole weekend...
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- "I
really can't talk right now. I'm at the doctor's office.
I'll call you after I'm through. In about an hour, or
so...okay, bye..." as she casually closes her phone and goes back
to looking at my Hit Singles necklaces at the Studio.
Please
note that I can't write prescriptions....
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- Maybe we should
change the name of our Colored Dots Necklaces, (which we actually
call Multi Dots Necklaces). Here's a snippet of a note that
we received just the other day...
"For now, I want to order a colored dots necklace for her so she
has one like mine (we call them "friendship" necklaces -- I'm
trying to buy all my closest friends one over time)."
It's more than a
trend...
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- Ob-La-Di,
Ob-La-Da!
"We saw the "on
u" sign
and started to hop, skip, then run to get to your booth... We
were just so happy to see you after a whole year!"....
Michelle, Alice and Kristen... Joined by Larisa, Katherine,
Stephanie, Rhonda, Patty, Alicia, Barbara, Amy and a whole bunch
more that came throughout the day...
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- Pleased to meet
you... I hope you guess my name...
It's so fun to
hear people's first "read" of our name... "on
yu, on yuuu",
and then there's "on
eww"..
We've also had the "on
ye?"
translation, too.
Ultimately, they
get it..
on u...
like when you wear it, it's "on you"...
We know.
You get it...
For those who
don't, we wish them the best in life....
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- "Don't you
dare!" Is what one of our great customers told her husband
when he joked that he was going to submit an "unsubscribe" request
to take her off of our mailing list after she had emailed
him a gentle reminder for what she wanted for Valentine's Day....
And she wasn't kidding...
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- Please, be
careful out there!
We received a
call from a woman frantically asking for directions to the Studio.
She and her daughter were in search of Candy Dots necklaces.
As I said "Head
up Patterson towards the Village Shopping Center..." I heard
this "$#&@! Oh, damn! I just hit a pole"...
We love that you
love the Candy Dots so much, but please let's not risk life and
limb!
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- At one of our
recent shows a well-dressed young woman spent quite a bit of time
looking at the line... After a while, she selected a pair of my
Pearl Maggie Earrings. They were perfect for her.
Interestingly,
when I noticed the name on her check it was from a well-known
Richmond family jeweler.
Do you think she
wears them to family gatherings?
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- On last spring's
postcard mailing it said 'You're it....' though (i hate to admit) many didn't quite get
the "tag" part of it...
Yet, this customer
totally gets it.
(phone ring)...
".Hello.. "Hi... I received an on u
necklace as a gift...you know, it was in the pretty in pink, on u
gift box.." "Great, do you love it?" "Are you kidding me...
it's absolutely perfect...but there's a problem with it..."...
"Why, what's
wrong?"
"Well, it doesn't
have one of your on u
tags on it... I mean, I really need one..."
virgins...
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- Hi, Donna. Just
wanted to say thank you for your help the other day with the
3 in 1 necklace. I love it and have been wearing it everyday. I
had no idea
Bryan had ordered me a necklace when I came in that day. We
laughed and laughed that you sent a different one than the one he ordered.
Talk about
knowing your customers!!
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That's pretty
much what one of our customers told her friend that she gave one
of my Maggie Mae necklaces to. The friend absolutely loved
the necklace and wanted to get a little something extra for
herself. However, when she asked where she got it, our
customer totally avoided the subject. So, the
one friend bugged the other friend for nearly a month and a
half... Finally, after a long pause, she gave up and told
her where she got it. We had a new customer at the Studio
the very next day!
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- Part 1:
I'm not quite sure how to say this without being too bold or
brash...yet it's something that I can't quite wait to tell you...
We were very
fortunate to have been asked to participate in a very slight way
in quite a phenomenal charity event here in Richmond- the
Genworth Children's Advantage Classic - featuring Andre
Agassi, Stefanie, Graf, Lindsay Davenport and James Blake...
All of the
proceeds from the event flow directly to phenomenal programs that
support worthy youth programs here in Richmond...which is the
important part of the whole thing.
Yet with quite a
bit of humility, and a whole lot of smiles, I'm happy say that we
were able to present each Stefanie and Lindsay with a collection of on u jewelry...
Now, how cool is
that?
- Part 2 :
One evening I was at Ukrops picking up a few things for dinner
when my cell phone began to ring. I looked to see that it
was a "Private Number". That's not quite so unusual, but
when I answered the call to find that Stefanie Graf was on the
other end. That was unusual!
We had the nicest
conversation. She was truly genuine and appreciative of the
items that I gave her at the Genworth Children's Advantage.
She loved the necklaces and mentioned how her children had worn
them every single day since they received them 7 weeks ago.
She asked me lots of question which I hope I answered coherently...
When I hung up
the phone, one of my favorite customers was there by my side.
While I told her what had just happened - I swear we were jumping
up and down screaming like little school girls!
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- Voices from
above. Seems as though some of our junior crowd has received
an edict from "above" (the daily intercom system from the main
office). It appears that the parochial dress code was being
broken by wearing too many of our Candy Dots necklaces with a
sterling silver or Swarovski crystal cross...
One, or two.
Okay. Six, or seven...you're in trouble.
Didn't Madonna go
to parochial school?
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- Goodbye Girl.
To the kleptomaniac that swiped a batch of our stuff from one of
our stores. Bring it back. Questions asked.
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- "I'd like to
order a couple of necklaces" she said. I couldn't quite make
out the accent, whether it was British or southern. "How
about a Maggie Mae and a Dots and a Amazonite Sweet P?."
Sure. "Oh, I'm not done yet" she said. "I'd also
like..." A whole bunch of necklaces later I couldn't wait to
ask, "Where are you from." "I'm from Virginia Beach, but I
live in Australia now. There's nothing like this there.
I can't wait to take these home as gifts!" FedEx is a
beautiful thing.
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"I just bought a Maggie
Mae and a longer necklace with a single stone.
These beautiful delicate necklaces look great together and I just wanted
to write to say that the craftsmanship is incredible and I get
compliments wherever I go."
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-
We've all
heard about "re-gifting". It's become a common day occurrence. Yet
this is something a little bit beyond... A wonderful young lady
arrived at the Studio and asked, ever so preciously, if she could exchange
the necklace she had received as a birthday gift for something a little
bit different. It wasn't "quite her style", she said... "Not a
problem" I recalled saying.... We undid the original
on u bow-tied ribbon
box, intact with the original wrappings. To my
surprise, something completely different was revealed...an on
u "knock-off"!!! (oh, it's become quite prevalent, I assure you...).
I was taken aback. Then, when I told her that it wasn't one of my
pieces...she was, too.... I can't tell you who the giver was... We
simply trashed the copycat piece (or should I say, garbage-disposaled
it)... and started over from scratch.... She left looking fab...
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-
I
knew there was a reason why I went into the Studio on the Monday after
doing three days at Daisy Days followed by another full day at Art in the
Square in Williamsburg....
At about 10 that Monday
morning a St. Bridget's Mom of a 3rd grader burst into the Studio to tell
me that her daughter was terribly upset because she had been to a party on
Saturday afternoon and that "all of those girls" were wearing "one of
those necklaces" by "Mrs. Silvestri!". "I want one too, Mom",
I think is what the little girl said to her Mom...or maybe it was more
like "Why don't I have one, Mom?: It didn't take more than a minute
to figure out that it was a Colored Dots Necklace with a tiny little
Swarovski cross that the little one was itching for.
Wind ahead to 3 that
afternoon, I looked up to find the cutest little girl with the biggest
(and I mean "biggest") smile that you could ever imagine, standing in my
doorway gleaming at me...She said curtly, "Mrs. Silvestri, thank you so
much for my necklace....I just love it!" Her Mom followed, in tow,
to pick out some more goodies for the little one...
I knew there was a
reason I went to the Studio on Monday....
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-
You've spent days preparing
to speak in front of esteemed colleagues and associates. Spending an
insurmountable of time getting all of your notes in order; all of your
words just right. The big day arrives...the presentation is
perfect... Everything went just the way you planned.... Then you ask "May
I answer any questions about the topics we just covered?" A calm
falls upon the room, then from the darkness of the auditorium a voice
calls out...."Yes, Doctor, could you please tell me where did you get your
necklace?".
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-
When it's your birthday, you
pretty much know what you really want...
One day while doing a show,
a shopper stopped by my booth and fell in love with my line. Then
and there, she decided that what she really wanted my jewelry for
her birthday present. Ironically, within a day or two, her hubby was
recommended by one of his clients to buy my jewelry as a gift for
his wife's upcoming birthday.
As the big day drew near, he
came into the Studio and bought her some wonderful pieces. I'm
thrilled to say that she was really happy with her gifts, but there was
something in particular that really caught her eye, so she stopped by the
Studio to make a swap.
We started talking about how
I started my line and I showed her some of my original hand-sewn button
bracelets that I had created back in the early 90's when we lived in
Pennsylvania. She mentioned that she had an old button bracelet that
she had gotten from a store in Delaware. And that she just loved it
so much that she wore it until a bunch of the buttons fell off...
Well, when she went home and
found the bracelet in her stash of jewelry, she noticed an "on u, Newtown,
PA" tag hand-sewn into the back of the bracelet! She quickly brought
it back to the Studio to show me... I've got to tell you, it was
like meeting up with a long, lost friend!
It's one of my original
designs and likely one of my first creations... It me makes wonder if
anybody else has one of my old button bracelet creations tucked in a
drawer or jewelry box out there? If you do, please let me know...I'd
love to see it !!!
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She felt lost without them
because she loved them so much and pretty much wore them everywhere.
She even sent us a picture of herself wearing her Princess Lola so that
could make her a new one as close as possible to the original... We
felt quite bad about her trauma, and we're more than happy to help her to
replace them...
The funniest thing that she
told us? "I'm sure some French lady is enjoying every piece!"
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Okay. We all try to plan our
vacations around great things...whether it be sunshine, food, surf, snow,
foreign destinations, or whatever. We're happy to report that we
know of this really fab family that planned their beach trip based on one of our shows... Now how cool is that?
Perhaps we'll open a new category...
'Show Girls!' (LOL)!!!
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One customer's husband thanked us
for saving him a bunch. He had just bought his wife a diamond tennis
bracelet for Mother's Day. However, she told him that what she really wanted
was one of our Princess Lola
necklaces...!
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