BUSINESS BUZZ
Getting the perfect gift By Michael J. DeCicco
Unlike Cupid, most of us don’t carry Valentine gifts wherever we go, in a backpack quiver full of love-tipped arrows. The search for the best way to touch our loved one’s heartstrings is a little harder for the rest of us. Luckily, we have places like downtown and the west end of New Bedford for finding truly unique Valentine jewelry and other gifts.
“Nothing is weird in the jewelry business” For that most serious of Valentine Day gifts, an engagement ring, go to Art in Gold, at 411 Bolton Street. This West End jewelry shop offers on-premises custom jewelry design services as well as sales, repairs, and appraisals. Susan Antunes, co-owner with husband Antonio Antunes said customers interested in a custom-designed ring, even an engagement or wedding band, can simply come in with a picture or a rough sketch of what they have in mind,
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and the finished piece can be ready in, at the most, a few weeks. Orders for these unique pieces increase around both Valentines Day and Christmas time, she said, but also around Mothers Day and the wedding and graduation seasons. She said she and her husband, who does the actual jewelry work, will suggest necessary changes to improve upon the customer’s initial idea and will take into account whether the customer will wear the jewelry daily or only occasionally.
February 2021 | The South Coast Insider
“We build upon the design ideas they bring in,” she said, “and sometimes they’ll say we made the piece look even better.” The shop also repairs and refurbishes jewelry and sells both Portuguese and American gold. Asked if any design she’s been asked to create stands out in her mind as the most difficult or the most peculiar, she said, “Nothing is weird in the jewelry business. We can do anything. Anything they ask we will do. It’s fun work. It doesn’t get boring. If the customer leaves happy, then we’re happy”
