Jewelry Trunk Show Attracts Students Ouside Dining Hall
By Loren Olson ’08
News Staff Reporter
Many of the female students and staff were delayed from entering the dining hall Saturday, December 1. Despite the pangs of hunger, they could not pass through the Hill House foyer without being brought to a standstill by the glitter of gems. L.D. & C’s holiday trunk show ran from 10:00am to 2:00pm, providing many members of the Choate community a chance to purchase necklaces, bracelets, and earrings.
The story of L.D. & C began five years ago with Choate’s own Lucie MacArthur ‘07. The precocious thirteen year old began to create and sell jewelry, following her mother’s creative example. Deborah MacArthur, with a “background in fashion and interior design,” knew the benefits of purchasing materials wholesale. She began taking her daughter to pearl and gem warehouses in New York’s bead district. Lucie used stones, glass, and silver in unusual combinations, producing and selling her pieces successfully from her dorm room. However, Lucie was not to be the only jeweler in the family. “I would take her to the shows and point out some great stones,” Deborah explained, “but she never bought the beads I wanted.” Learning from Lucie and books on jewelry, Deborah soon introduced her own line of hand-made pieces.
In 2005, the duo decided to fuse their companies into a stronger, more professional business. They combined the titles ‘Lucie by Design” and “DM Designs by Deborah MacArthur” into the more manageable ‘L.D. & C.’ Despite this merger, the two preserved their distinct artistic visions. Pulling a weighty quartz, turquoise, and coral necklace off a stand, Deborah declared, “this is definitely a Lucie piece…I would never think to put stones together in this way.” The mother’s necklaces are more classic in design and color palette. Both mother and daughter, however, share a taste for chunky beads, much larger than those currently seen on Choate students. “I really like this stuff,” gushed one eager sophomore, “but it’s so huge.”
Besides the sheer weight of the pieces, some students and faculty found the jewelry prohibitively costly. One necklace, composed of 14 karat gold and nuggets of raw diamond, was retailing for over a thousand dollars. “Well, if that’s the first thing they pick up, they might be turned off,” Mrs. MacArthur laughed. The piece seemed to spontaneously draw hands, soft coos of admiration, and a quick hiss of disappointment.
Emeralds, sapphires, tourmalines, and chrysoberyls rounded out the collection of high-end stones. The clarity of the gems combined with the astronomical cost of gold ($803.90 per ounce) perhaps precipitated the price tags. However, quality did not descend proportionally with cost. The best-selling pieces, in the $20-$80 range, possessed all the marks of great craftsmanship. For example, where a Canal Street jeweler would simply bend wire in a loop to keep a bead in place, L.D. & C. secures each stone with three wraps. This time consuming and delicate procedure is done entirely by hand. Additionally, the duo insists on using sterling silver or vermeil (gilded silver) instead of cheaper, plated varieties.
In honor of the young founder’s alma mater, all pieces sold at Choate were 25% off. Another section of the display, labeled the ‘dot sale,’ featured pieces for a third of their original price. Thus, the same shopper unnerved by diamonds could pick up a pair of earrings for the cost of two diet cokes. Also by Lucie’s request, an undisclosed portion of the profits was donated to the Environmental Action Coalition. “Charity is a big component of our company,” Mrs. MacArthur explained, “people benefit themselves and others when they purchase our jewelry.”
Besides trunk shows at Choate, L. D. & C. sells “enormously well” at several California high schools. The company also has their work featured at Ballew’s Jewelers of Red Bank and Sea Girt, New Jersey. However, the most profitable venue is right where the jewelry is made: the MacArthur household. “Word of mouth is truly the best business,” Deborah beams, “and it is immensely rewarding to see your customers satisfied.”
The mother-daughter team plans to expand their business, as they continue to make the company more professional. Future L.D. & C. pieces will feature a stamped monogram and signature packaging. There may also come a day when customers will be able to custom-order pieces from lucieanddebby.com, the company’s website.
On working with her daughter, Mrs. MacArthur muses: “I think its great we can agree to make things our own way. We have enormous respect for each other’s styles.” If the anxious inquiries of students about the next trunk show are any indication, so does the Choate community.
Zana Salzman ’08 checks out L.D. & C’s holiday trunk show collection. PHOTO/Michael Tsai ‘10
