Kickoff

I was captivated by Venetian beads while on a trip to Italy in 2005. This began my love affair with beading. That year for Christmas, I lovingly created handmade jewelry for my family and friends. I didn’t stop there; I then created beautiful jewelry to match every outfit in my closet. With each holiday, special occasion, or shopping trip, I found a new reason to make jewelry. I was hooked. Some friends (who were quite possibly tired of receiving gifts of jewelry) encouraged me to sell my creations.

Taking inspiration from the enthusiastic fans at the University of Oregon Duck football games, I started my first company called The Elegant Duck. With a desire to create lovely jewelry that could be worn to the game and to the office, I carefully selected unique and beautiful beads that matched Oregon’s colors: green and yellow. The resulting products were very popular and sales were brisk. After selling jewelry to Duck fans for two years, something amazing happened! Fans of the Oregon State Beavers began to inquire whether I could make some designs in their colors: black and orange. How could I deny these women their own line of beautiful jewelry?

And so, with that, Elegant Sports Jewelry was born. A single site for all sports fans to buy jewelry to match any of their teams’ colors. There is a lot of fan jewelry that would be embarrassing to wear away from the stadium. My products are for fans with discriminating taste.

First and Goal

It is my primary desire to craft unique, beautiful, and high-quality jewelry items for my customers. I have a passion for using Czech beads where much of the bead production is a cottage industry like my own. I am also seeking membership in a 12-Step program for pearl addicts. I love the texture, shapes, and colors of freshwater pearls. Metalsmithing is on my list of new techniques to experiment with.

In the coming months, we will continue to expand our product offerings to include new color combinations. If you don’t see your team represented, please contact us and we will let you know when something is available.

The Roster

This has truly been a family affair. My husband, Dave, has been my biggest fan, championing me along all the way. My sons, Jake and Micah, have eagerly helped string designs and even created a few of their own.

The birth of Elegant Sports Jewelry has seen Dave promoted to the technically-titled position of “IT Guy”. He is also the principal photographer, website maintainer, and quality-assurance supervisor. He often finds himself in the role of spilled-bead-tray-picker-upper as well.

Jake has been the foreman of production and inventory management (a.k.a. bead counting). His new duties will include order fulfillment also. Micah will retain his role on the design team and continue with production and quality control.

And I of course will remain CBB, Chief Bead Buyer!! It is my fascination and love of the darn little things that got us here in the first place.

Overtime

All of our products are created with only the finest materials, and attention is given to even the smallest details. However, some of our beads are themselves handmade and some of the beads are made of natural materials, like pearls, shells, and stone. Therefore, sometimes a product may differ slightly from the photos on the website. We still guarantee that you will love your new jewelry and hope that you wear it proudly as you cheer for your team!!

Elegant Sports Jewelry

Michelle Reid
Owner/Designer