Jewelry business started as hobby for Catharine Love - SCNow
FLORENCE, S.C. – Catharine Love’s postal address might read Florence, but her house these days looks a little more like Santa’s North Pole workshop.
Tassels, beads, boxes of chains and gemstones, fabrics, leather – with Christmas right around the corner and the Jingle Bell Market kicking off Friday, the Florence jewelry designer is in full-blown production mode.
“Yeah, it’s a little chaotic around here right now,” Love said, laughing. “When I have a big show coming up, I get a little manic. I never feel like I have enough.”
And this weekend’s show at the Florence Center is the biggest of the year for Love, who said she’s working tirelessly to ensure she has a wide variety of custom-designed necklaces, bracelets and earrings to offer. After all, she has her regular customers and trunk shows to worry about, too.
“During the fall and Christmas season, I pretty much work on my jewelry every night,” Love said. “I at least try to do a little something every day.”
Jewelry making started out as a hobby for Love, basically something to fiddle with while she was watching TV at night. The Alabama native who has called Florence home for decades now got interested in it when her mom started making jewelry. She said she immediately enjoyed playing around with different designs and materials, but never did she think it would grow into a full-blown business.
“My mom started making jewelry, and I went over to her house and started making jewelry with her, just for something to do, really,” Love said. “She showed me a little bit, and I went online and watched some tutorials. Then, I started ordering beads. And then, I ordered more beads and then, more beads and more beads.
“Finally, I told Mom, ‘If we’re going to keep making jewelry, we need to sell it or something. Otherwise, what are we going to do with all this?’”
Love Jewelry started with a trunk show at Love’s mom’s house for members of the Friends of the Florence Museum. From there, word spread. Eventually, Love’s mom decided she didn’t want to make jewelry anymore, but Love continued with trunk shows and through local boutiques. Now her designs are available at Pieces in Florence and Sa’Shay on Main in Conway.
“It’s great having local boutiques carry my stuff, but I don’t know that I’ll ever give up doing the house shows,” Love said. “Those are just so much fun. I really enjoy them.”
Love draws inspiration from other designers and current trends, but her designs are one-of-a-kind, and each piece is its own unique creation. She orders her materials from all over the world and is constantly looking for new pieces to incorporate.
“A lot of designers just do one thing or specialize in one type of jewelry,” Love said. “That’s not me. I don’t have just one style. I get bored with doing just one thing, so I’m always trying something new.”
Right now, Love said, her most popular sellers are Louis Vuitton lock bracelets and necklaces, leather cuffs and any and all “game day” jewelry. The Louis Vuitton pieces are her priciest, going for $120 or more, but not everything is pricey. She offers necklaces and earrings for as little as $15.
She also does custom pieces by request.
“I’ve had lots of people bring me something that belonged to their mother or grandmother – an old rhinestone brooch or pendant – and asked me to create something with it,” Love said. “I love doing that kind of stuff.”
When she isn’t designing and making jewelry, Love does have a full-time day job at her family business, Biggs Casework Inc. For right now, Love said, jewelry will remain a side gig.
“I love it, and it pays for itself and definitely gives us some extra money for fun stuff and things we need around the house,” she said. “And it gives me something to do. I like to stay busy.”
