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Making a Life of Love Fine jeweler Montana Coady celebrates opportunities PHOTOS BY CHRIS MORTENSON
Santa Monica resident Montana Coady is a diamond expert and co-founder of Coady Culha, a renowned fine jewelry house. PAGE 26 THE ARGONAUT MAY 19, 2022
By Bridgette M. Redman ontana Coady’s life can sound a little bit like a young girl’s fairy tale at times. Living in Santa Monica, she’s surrounded by diamonds, horses, dogs, a man she loves and her first baby. It’s a life she’s built from enduring passions and a commitment to a business that provides people with unforgettable personal experiences. Her mom was also a horseback rider and Coady, who is a ranked equestrian, was born on a property with ponies and horses in Malibu. “I started riding before I could walk,” Coady said. “It’s always just been in my blood and a part of my life. When I was about 6 years old, I started competing on the circuit.” In the world of showjumping, there are “hunters” and “jumpers.” Coady leaned toward the world of hunters and has continued with that her entire life—taking short breaks to attend USC and have a baby in 2021. “Hunters are where you’re judged on the accuracy, the grace and the elegance,” Coady said. “Everything has to be in stride. The amount of strides in between each jump has to be a certain number. If you’re given a course, the elegance, the beauty, the scope of the horse as well as the horse’s athletic ability to jump (is judged). The rider is traditionally supposed to be effortless looking.” Jumpers, on the other hand, are seen in the Olympics where a horse needs to get around a course as fast as possible and they are judged on speed and how high they jump. It wasn’t a world that appealed to Coady as much as the elegance of hunters. Love is something that opened her other worlds as well—both as a parent, partner and co-founder of Coady Culha, a line of bespoke jewelry that designs custom diamond jewelry and specializes in engagement and wedding rings; and as a competitor in dog shows with the family’s Russell Terrier, Miss
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