Today we’d like to introduce you to Lucia Mouet.
Lucia, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
LUMO was born from my own love of fine jewelry. When I first became interested in fine jewelry, I found it really difficult to find dainty, minimal pieces that I could wear every day. My inevitable solution was to learn to make them myself. So, I studied at a number of independent studios in Southern California, learning different styles and techniques along the way. It was at that point that it really grew from an interest, into my life’s passion. I learned that hand-crafted fine jewelry is a great addition to an outfit, and is also a beautiful art form in and of itself.
When I decided to open LUMO and began hearing from happy clients that I was crafting custom pieces for, I knew that this was something that I was excited to dedicate my life to. Jewelry is unique in that most people can remember exactly when and where they got each piece of jewelry that they own — whether it was a thoughtful gift for a special occasion, or if its something meaningful that you bought and that makes you smile each time you put it on.
LUMO started out as a one-woman operation, and I was selling exclusively through an online store. After a buzz started to grow about some of our best-selling pieces, we started working with a number of boutique clothing and jewelry retailers around the country, and around the world. We recently opened our first brick-and-mortar storefront on Orange Avenue in Coronado, and the result has been incredible. We have a wonderful bright and airy space to showcase our core collection of styles and a number of unique one-of-a-kind styles available only in our store. Our space also doubles as a workshop for our totally hand-crafted line.
Has it been a smooth road?
There’s not a thing that I would change about the time that I have spent working with my clients and growing LUMO. As any small business owner knows, nothing comes easy. Starting from the early days of the business, I had to learn to balance my time between designing a line of jewelry, hand-crafting every piece that we sold, communicating with all of my clients, and all of the other day-to-day tasks that come with running the business. And with the recent growth, all of these things have been compounded. It has been a long road of challenges, but each of them well worth the efforts that went into it.
We’d love to hear more about LUMO Jewelry.
We are a fully hand-crafted, bespoke fine jewelry company. We only use natural, ethically sourced materials, and we specialize in minimal pieces that can be stacked and layered together, which allows you to create your own style.
In an industry full of machine-made jewelry, we pride ourselves on the hand-crafted nature of each of our pieces. This is evident in our store. At the back of our retail space, clients can see right through glass French doors into our creative studio in the back, and they can see right where each of their pieces is born.
So much of the media coverage is focused on the challenges facing women today, but what about the opportunities? Do you feel there are any opportunities that women are particularly well positioned for?
The only limits to your success are the limits that you place on yourself. Fine jewelry has been a well established and male-dominated industry long before I decided to get involved. But it was my passion, so I was going to stop at nothing to turn my imagination of what this business could be, into a reality. I pride myself on LUMO being female owned and managed, and I have a great team of local women that work with me to help make that a reality every day.
Pricing:
- We carry something for everyone in our Coronado store. We have everything from simple sterling silver necklaces and stacking rings, to solid gold pieces using diamonds and natural gemstones. Prices range anywhere from $20 up to several thousand.
Contact Info:
- Address: 940 Orange Ave.
Coronado, CA 92118 - Website: www.shoplumo.com
- Phone: (619) 996-3044
- Email: hello@shoplumo.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/lumojewelry
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/lumojewelry
Image Credit:
Becca Batista – Personal Photo
LUMO Co.
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