If you’re looking for an engagement ring or another item of jewelry to mark a special occasion but need some guidance when it comes to selecting the right piece, Calista West, a Nantucket-based personal jeweler who opened a private office on Beacon Hill last month, can help you find something that fits your particular taste, as well as your budget.
A native of Northeast Pennsylvania, West began spending her summers on Nantucket with her family as a young child, and she has called the Island her full-time home since the summer of 2003.
“I was supposed to only be there for the summer, but like so many people, the Island got a hold of me, and I can’t get away now,” West recalls of making her permanent move to Nantucket more than 20 years ago.
On Nantucket, West managed a fine jewelry store for several years – a professional experience she credits for sparking her “fascination with the industry.” She completed the Graduate Diamonds Program at GIA (Gemological Institute of America) in New York City in 2017 in preparation of making her next career move: striking it out on her own as a personal jeweler.
While she wasn’t the first private jeweler in the industry, West admits she didn’t know even realize this niche role existed before she began working in this specialized field.
“I wasn’t so much aware of what a private jeweler was, but my way of thinking was to find a way to do business and work with clients,” she said.
Instead of sitting inside a jewelry shop and simply waiting for a potential client to walk in, West works with clients in need of her services on a personalized, one-on-one basis.
While West can’t provide an accurate count on her current clientele, she estimates the number sits somewhere in the “five-figure range.” She said the majority of her existing clients are Boston residents who are visitors to the Island so expanding to Beacon Hill was a logical next step for her business.
Last year had already brought what West describes as the “next evolution” of her business when she opened her eponymous, brick-and-mortar jewelry store on Nantucket’s Main Street. Two other women now staff the shop while West is available to clients there by private appointment.
And with her expansion to Beacon Hill, West can now offer customers in Boston this same elevated experience in personalized jewelry purchasing.
After an initial consultation with the client, West goes to her sources and handpicks a number of options, based on both the client’s particular preferences and their budgets.
“Everything is customizable,” said West, who added that the pieces she has procured for clients run the full gamut but are most often engagement rings, wedding rings, and custom designs, as well as redesigns, such as placing repurposed old gemstones in new settings.
The Nantucket store has a range of jewelry items in stock for customers on a tight timetable, or for those who might not already know what they’re looking for.
West also has access to rare and exclusive items, such as high-quality gemstones (including unheated Burmese sapphires and other rare-colored gems) and diamonds, all of which she sources through her closely guarded connections.
Moreover, West said she offers “convenience and flexibility” to her clients, so she’ll travel to them if necessary and work around their schedules.
West seeks to build long-term relationships with her clients as well, offering them what she describes as “enhanced privacy and discretion.”
And with its nondescript location, which is available by appointment only, West’s new office on Beacon Hill offers a “more private and secure experience,” she said, compared with shopping at a traditional jewelry store in a busy location.
For more information on Calista West and her services, visit calistawest.com.