South Carolina Jeweler Sees Sales Soar After Jill Biden Wears Bracelet
By Karen Dybis | October 12, 2021
"When it comes to U.S. first ladies, accessories are everything. Jackie Kennedy had her pillbox hat. Michelle Obama had hoop earrings and fabulous belts. Now, one jewelry designer is hoping her bracelet can become one of Jill Biden’s iconic pieces.
Natalie Holst, creative director and founder of the Holst + Lee, says seeing her signature gold mesh bracelet on the current first lady, while Dr. Biden visited a Wisconsin school this fall, was a dream fulfilled. Since that moment, the Mesh Classic Gold Everything bracelet has boosted traffic to the Holst + Lee website and kicked the Charleston, S.C.–based studio “into high gear,” Holst says.
“One of my favorite moments was getting a call from an older gentleman who wanted to buy the bracelet for his wife. He was struggling with the Internet,” Holst says, so she walked him through the order. “When we got a call from the local newspaper and saw the story on the front page, we knew it was going to be big.”
Natalie Holst says she finds inspiration for her jewelry all around her, from her sons’ toys to the local hardware store.
The whole experience started with a simple email, Holst says. A Holst + Lee customer let her know they were giving the bracelet to the first lady, but Holst says she did not know when or if Dr. Biden would wear it. She watched the news for months, hoping to see that glint of gold around Dr. Biden’s wrist.
“We were freaking out even as we shipped it. All we knew was it was a gift for Jill Biden,” Holst says. “I knew [Dr. Biden] was going to London, and I wondered: Would she wear the bracelet in front of the Queen?… I kept looking up her travel schedule and doing Google searches.”
Then, in September, there it was. The Associated Press ran a photo of Dr. Biden waving to the crowd at Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee. Holst says she could see her company’s name on the bracelet and recognized her signature magnetic clasp. It was a career high, she says.
“It was epic. [The bracelet] has been ... "
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