Labor Day weekend ushered in a scorching heat wave in New York City, but Camille Zarsky, founder of The Seven, a designer jewelry boutique in the West Village, was already thinking about the chilly days of December and the myriad things she must do between now and then to prep her store for the holidays.
“We’ll definitely have someone doing the windows and changing out the exterior,” Zarsky, who hails from Houston, tells JCK, referring to the sunflower-dappled display that currently covers the facade of her corner space. “I might do ornaments all over with the foliage.”
“The decor will be much more whimsical and feminine with more sparkle,” she adds. “I love the opulence—that’s very traditional Texas, and that’s where my heart is. Let’s make it fabulous!”
One of Zarsky’s tried-and-true strategies for doing that? Stocking one-of-a-kind pieces, many resulting from collaborations she’s undertaken with of-the-moment designers such as the One I Love and Dyne by Sarah Ysabel Narici.
“If there’s any way we can tweak pieces or make them special, I really try,” Zarsky says. “Customers are savvy—you can find almost anything online at this point so we really want to make it special and something they can’t find in other places.”
Jewelry, however, isn’t the only product The Seven is focused on for the 2023 holiday season. The boutique stocks luxurious coffee table books published by Assouline, including oversize volumes, such as The Impossible Collection of Jewelry, which retails for $1,050.
“The big ones are all bound by hand, and they do sell, but the other ones, the destination books and regular Assouline titles—they just came out with a New York Chic book—are an easy add-on, at a really nice price point,” Zarsky says. “And they still read luxury. Also, they’re great hostess gifts. If people want something for under $200, it’s the perfect thing.”
For the holidays, Zarsky is also investing in a new line of ceramics by an artist in Austin, Texas; collectible glass ornaments; a range of home scents and candles by Maison La Bougie; and, hopefully, fine china by the Italian brand Ginori, with whom she’s now “in talks.”
“They’re really pretty and in theme with the rest of the store: floral and bright colors and fun,” Zarsky says.
Zarsky recently opened a second location in Sag Harbor, N.Y. In addition to greeting clients at her two boutiques, she is planning to do a December pop-up at the Colony Hotel in Palm Beach, Fla., where The Seven has a devoted following.
“Our jewelry is not so serious and really resonates down there,” she says.
She cites the Paris-based designer Marie Lichtenberg as a particularly strong seller, as well as “really cool emerald pieces.”
“Local New Yorkers don’t always want the pink or blue sapphires, but emerald and diamonds are consistently strong sellers for us,” Zarsky says. “The more one-of-a-kind emerald pieces I can afford to commission, I max that budget out.”
Top: Jewelry and reading matter for sale at The Seven (store interior photos by Blake Brunson)
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