Charms are a staple of holiday gift guides, and for good reason—they make excellent presents. Like potato chips, you can never stop at just one, and for shoppers who have the means to treat a charm-collecting giftee, it’s an easy win for most-loved present of the year.
Storrow, the fine jewelry brand founded by Jennifer Koche in 2019, makes it especially easy to be a star gift giver with its selection of antique-inspired charms and medallions, as well as rings, earrings, and chains, each one an absolute treasure. Customers can’t go wrong with any one of the offerings, though perhaps therein lies the challenge: deciding on just one.
The dream scenario would be to string a grand assortment of Storrow’s charms on a chain and style the necklace to perfection as Blake Lively did last spring, though to amass such a collection might take the average consumer quite some time. But if Lively, whose superb style and love for good jewelry has made her somewhat of an industry darling, is wearing it, you better believe it’s worthy of the attention.
Below, Storrow founder Jennifer Koche talks her inspiration, being a new brand in unprecedented times, and some of her favorite styles.
I love that many of these are modeled after Victorian keepsakes, as many customers are interested in the style but don’t necessarily feel confident shopping for antiques. Are any of them specifically inspired by your personal collection? Can you share a story about one or two of them?
I do feel like the process of hunting for antique jewelry can be overwhelming and difficult at times, so I like to think that I am doing some of the heavy lifting for my customers and modernizing with my own personal take. Some of the medallions in my collection are based on a larger coin medallion that I found in a small antiques store on Charles Street back when I was in college in Boston. I took inspiration in the coin look itself, as well as a section of the border. My brand name is actually based on a street in Boston that I used to frequent quite a bit in college.
The collection is like candy—impossible to choose just one. Do you have a favorite, and what are the most popular styles among customers?
I love this reference, as anyone that knows me knows that candy is second to jewelry for me on a list of my favorite things. I’ve always had such a sweet tooth, which is an oxymoron given that I’m the daughter of a dentist. It is hard to pick favorites, and I feel like mine are constantly evolving and changing. However, right now, I’d have to say it’s the Juliana. I combo’d two styles that I love—the Juliet and the Alana—for their love child, the Juliana. Customer favorites tend to evolve, too, but my best sellers have been my Anna, Alana, Estelle, Emily, and Birdie charms.
You launched the brand in 2019—so much has happened (or not happened) in these last few years. Can you talk about how it’s been being a new business through a pandemic? How did you persevere?
It’s funny to me, as I don’t know it any other way. My business was built entirely during the pandemic. It’s wild to think where I was at the end of 2019 to where I am now. So much bad came with the pandemic, but the silver lining for me was that it gave me so much more free time to focus on building Storrow. It was scary in the beginning to not know what was going to happen with the business itself and if it would be able to take off given all the instability. But I had little things that kept me going in the beginning that then turned into slightly bigger things. Seeing others (dream retailers and customers) like my jewelry and respond to it gave me the confidence and motivation to continue. I love being able to constantly create, design, and style, and I’m grateful to have a platform to do what I love doing.
What are your holiday plans and your hopes for the new year?
I’m looking forward to some relaxation and spending time with friends and family locally, as well as with my new rescue dog Feta! I also plan to get some designing in. I hope this new year brings new opportunities for Storrow. My goal is to build more awareness around the brand, have evolution and continued growth.
Top: Storrow founder and designer Jennifer Koche
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