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Happy 40th anniversary to Hunt Country Jewelers!!

Please join me in wishing a happy 40th anniversary to one of my very favorite family owned jewelry stores, Hunt Country Jewelers!

Why Hunt Country’s 40th matters to you:

  1. They’re delightful and it’s heartwarming.
  2. They’re celebrating by having an ABSOLUTELY MASSIVE SALE of their gorgeous handmade jewelry.

What you’re seeing in the window is part of Carolyn of Hunt Country’s famous Halloween decorations: they’re always Harry Potter-inspired and a source of great local pride. (Carolyn and Logan are the second generation of Cutshalls to run the store, although founding couple Ed and Claire are still very involved, both in the business and production side.)

Seeing that Halloween window for myself is part of why I decided to drive an hour into Virginia’s picturesque wine country to take these pictures myself, even though I had just come home from Paris and Carolyn offered to save me the trip by sending me images.

The biggest reason, though? I love being there.

Hunt Country Jewelers in beautiful Purcellville, VA.HCJ itself is a beautiful, open-hearted sanctuary of a place. Big, bright windows, elegant displays, and the nicest people you will ever meet.

Half of the customers who stopped by were greeted by name and the other half were treated just as warmly. It is everything that is wonderful about small businesses.

Ed of Hunt Country Jewelers carving wax for a large custom project 1979.

Part of what makes Hunt Country Jewelers so special is that they really do handle every aspect of their production themselves: they import their gemstones directly from a contact in South Africa, cut the gems in house, carve original designs from wax, and every other step up to and including the final polishing. (See one of their custom pieces come to life in video here.)

The image above shows Ed, half of the original founding Hunt Country couple, carving a large block of wax for a custom project in 1979. Hunt Country Jewelers still uses the same techniques as they did in the 1970’s – and in some cases, the exact same equipment.

Hunt Country’s designs have won multiple AGTA Spectrum Awards and placed in the International Pearl Competition; they’ve even patented a new gemstone cut.

Loudoun County, VA, is known for its wineries today, but it has historically been a center of the region’s fox hunting tradition. Hunt Country Jewelers offers a variety of fox-inspired pieces for those who may love the romance of fox hunting culture but don’t want to hunt anything alive.

This gorgeously crafted fox brooch is one of my favorites. There are also simpler (and very affordable) pieces that use the motif of the fox’s head as a pendant or stud earrings.

The best part about a jewelry store that’s owned by a family of gem-importing lapidaries is, of course, the gemstones. Even a modest piece of rough becomes extraordinary when it’s cut by someone with as much experience as the Cutshalls.

When you take those stunning stones and put them in Hunt Country’s signature settings, the airy but substantial goldwork elevates these individual parts into wholes that are truly exceptional.

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Say hello to Store 5a.

I hope you’re ready to add another website to your jewelry browsing rotation, my dears, because STORE 5a and its ever-expanding selection of pre-loved treasures is not to be missed.

Beautiful pre-loved jewelry of the highest quality from STORE 5a.STORE 5a is a vintage, overstock and pre-owned jewelry store that curates luxury items, restores them, and then offers these treasures to you spectacular prices.

They have a diverse selection of pieces ranging from under $50 to over $10,000, but where I think they really shine is in the category of everyday luxury. High quality pieces you can wear every day, made affordable by their pre-owned status but still fine enough to provide years of adornment for a new owner.

Three beautiful pre-loved necklaces from STORE 5a. Two amethyst, one sapphire and diamond.1 / 2 / 3

You know me well enough by now to know my favorite of this trio is the one in the middle – but the two amethyst pendants are so lovely, too! They’re distinctive, but simple enough that they would go with almost anything.

When I worked in an office I had a rotation of go-to everyday necklaces that these would have fit into perfectly.

STORE 5a's experienced workshop refurbishes pre-loved luxury jewelry. It's the perfect way to own a real treasure at an incredible price.Unlike many stores that choose to dabble in pre-loved jewelry, STORE 5a’s ties to the jewelry industry are deep and strong: STORE 5a’s director Jesse Johnson’s family owns the highly-respected Ohio jewelry institution, the Diamond Cellar. When STORE 5a tells you about a piece of jewelry they’re offering, there’s major knowledge behind that description.

In fact, STORE 5a’s origin story is directly tied to Johnson’s experience at the Diamond Cellar. In his own words:

I was interning at my family’s jewelry store, the Diamond Cellar, [when] I noticed all of the vintage and pre-owned jewelry their customers were looking to sell. Many of these pieces were beautiful and had such a rich history. Pieces like this posed a real problem for many customers. They were too dangerous or difficult to sell on eBay but were worth more than just their weight in gold.

After looking into it, I asked if I could begin buying and selling this jewelry online. With Diamond Cellar’s expert watch and jewelry shop, appraisal team and buying staff, we had everything we needed to help customers buy and sell jewelry in a safe and trustworthy environment.”

Three beautiful pre-loved rings from STORE 5a.

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Because STORE 5a purchases each piece of jewelry outright rather than just serving as a third-party sales platform like eBay, they’re able to take advantage of their experienced workshop’s ability to clean and refurbish each piece thoroughly before offering it for sale.

You don’t have to worry about fakes, repros, or damaged pieces masquerading as ready-to-purchase stock here: the jewelry that STORE 5a offers is refreshed and ready for its new life in your jewelry box.

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Store profile: Hunt Country Jewelers.

I recently had the pleasure of visiting Hunt Country Jewelers:  a second-generation family owned gem of a jewelry store in picturesque Purcellville, VA, and I can’t wait to tell you all about it.

First things first: the setting. Purcellville is a beautiful little town in the heart of Virginia wine country. Rolling hills, wide skies, friendly residents, wine everywhere. It’s worth visiting on its own.

The beautiful, gallery-like space of the family owned Hunt Country Jewelers in picturesque Purcellville, Virginia.Hunt Country Jewelers is right in the middle of the town, across from a distillery. It’s a bright, open, thoughtfully-designed space that feels like a gallery without the standoffishness. Warm wooden display cases, bright lit, dot the room, holding everything from large, custom show pieces to sterling silver earrings to loose gemstones awaiting their fates.

I met Logan and Carolyn of Hunt Country Jewelers at a GIA event some months ago. After chatting with Carolyn for a few minutes, I complimented her glasses frames: they were gold colored, with pretty little details. She responded, “Oh, thanks! My husband made them,” and then proceeded to tell me how she was tired of needing to have bent glasses frames repaired, so her husband simply made her a pair out of actual gold so that he could fix them himself at his jewelers’ bench whenever necessary.

If that doesn’t make you want to meet these people, you’re reading the wrong blog.

This incredible tanzanite ring by Hunt Country Jewelers features an intricate setting with tiny, golden animals. Look at those elephants!

The ring above features a tanzanite that Logan and Carolyn brought back from their honeymoon (didn’t you visit gem mines on your honeymoon?) in a custom-made setting that shows a tiny wildlife scene: here in the foreground you can see a rose gold mama elephant with her baby, in front of the spreading branches of a stand of trees that hold the central tanzanite.

Every step of the process – from selecting and cutting the tanzanite to designing, creating, and perfecting the setting – was conceived and executed by a member of the Hunt Country Jewelers family. And when I say “family,” I do mean family: husband and wife Ed and Claire Cutshall were the ones who founded the business, and now their son Logan, and his lovely wife Carolyn are involved as well.

That’s three lapidaries and two Gemologists: Ed even holds the patent to a gemstone cut, the Jubilant Crown, and his designs have taken home awards in both the International Pearl Competition and the AGTA Spectrum Awards.

A glorious tourmaline cabochon ring made by Hunt Country Jewelers.

In other words: small shop, little town, staggering amounts of knowledge and talent.

Logan, following in his father’s gemological footsteps, has even been dabbling in gem importing through his connections at certain African mines. He says he enjoys seeing all the rough that comes through and – even better – he gets first pick of the stones.

It only takes one look around the showroom to see that Hunt Country Jewelers is run by people who love gemstones: bright green garnets, vibrant tourmalines, and rich tanzanites stand out among more frequently seen stones like aquas, diamonds, sapphires, and amethyst.

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