May 1, 2017

Meet Dawn Muscio of D. Muscio Fine Jewelry Studio in Sandy Springs

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dawn Muscio.

Dawn, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
“Necessity is the mother of invention.” At Pratt Institute, I found my passion and talent for making jewelry. I started searching out custom commissions in college to finance the projects I wanted to do to fulfill my program’s degree requirements. After that there was never a question that I would ultimately have my own business. After college, I traveled across the United States looking to find the place that I ultimately wanted to land, however I ran out of money before I found that place and ended up back home, in upstate New York. I showed my portfolio to a local goldsmith, took a bench test and was hired. I started at the bottom: performing simple repairs and helping the other two artisans with parts of their custom jobs. I stayed there for eight years, learning about the industry, honing my skills, and garnering my own clientele for custom commissions. Eventually I trained an apprentice and moved into a designing goldsmith role. In 1999 I relocated to Atlanta.

Including my time in upstate New York, I spent the first 15 years as a professional artisan working in other’s jewelry businesses. The skills I learned are invaluable, however I also learned there was great segmentation and specialization between production and sales roles. I saw this lead to a disconnect between the customer and the person(s) making the piece, which resulted in mistakes and miscommunications, less attention to detail and ownership in the outcome.

Ultimately the customer suffered an inferior piece and/or poor experience. I thought I could do it better. So, in 2005 I started D. Muscio Fine Jewelry Studio.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
D. Muscio studio has had its ups and downs, much like the majority of the jewelry industry in the last 10 years. However, what has led us through the darkness of the recent recession is our versatility. Clients can recycle and re-use what they already have when they work with us, or we can supply the fine metals and jewels necessary to bring any vision to reality.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about D. Muscio Fine Jewelry Studio – what should we know?
D. Muscio is the evolution of fine jewelry. We are an exclusive jewelry studio committed to providing an attentive and unique customer experience. At D. Muscio you collaborate directly with the artist throughout the process of creating a piece from concept to completion. We embrace old world techniques alongside current technologies to make bespoke and signature designer fine jewelry. The experience of being involved in the evolution of each piece is unforgettable and a story worth sharing. Our services include bespoke and fine jewelry re-styling, repairs, colored gemstone and diamond sales, insurance replacement, diamond brokerage, and fine metal recycling.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
At my studio, I provide unparalleled expertise to guide a person through the process of creating a custom piece uniquely suited to them. My legacy to this world is in my artistry and craftsmanship. It is my name inside of each piece, and to me that is not just a brand. My dedication to creating an heirloom extends to every aspect of the experience, I want both the owner of a piece, and a future goldsmith to look at one of my work’s and say “this person really cared about what they do”. I want the person to have a story to tell from the experience, because jewelry is a way that we tell the story of ourselves to the world. I design with passion and strive for perfection. The passion that I have for making fine jewelry is the single most important factor in my success. People that commission me to make a special piece go away feeling that love for jewelry as a sculptural art form, and know that I put everything I have into each piece I make. I have a quote from Maya Angelou hanging over my workbench, “Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.” That sums it up.

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