For most, an engagement ring is the biggest jewelry purchase they’ll ever make, but collector and connoisseur Tiina Smith makes the case for making informed, calculated, and fun gemstone acquisitions that have meaning throughout ones life. Founded around five years ago and located on Newbury Street in Boston, her boutique offers an ever-evolving assortment of 20th and 21st-century pieces from some of the best jewelers in the world—think Van Cleef & Arpels, Chanel, Bulgari, and more—and we’re so happy to have some of her best choices available on Over The Moon!
After receiving her MBA from Harvard, Tiina attended the Gemological Institute of America. The former Wall Street portfolio manager finds new jewelry pieces for her boutique with an eye and an edge that’s akin to stock buying and portfolio building. Her education and knowledge of fine jewelry allows her to make the best buying decisions, and her understanding of clients’ wishes for something playful, colorful, and different translates in the chosen bracelets, necklaces, earrings, and brooches available at Tiina Smith Jewelry.
95% of Tiina’s pieces are signed by the master jewelers, which are more rare in the fine jewelry world. And around 25% of her stock is one-of-a-kind, like the gorgeous Chanel 18k white gold and diamond bracelet (pictured above).
Tiina, along with her all-female teams, sets herself apart in this very male-dominated space because she knows and understands her clients wants and wishes. While buying for her assortment, she’s able to ask questions like: “Is the clasp going to stay on when I’m dancing at my wedding?” and “Can I take this piece off without having to ask anyone else for help?”
And when advising clients who are just starting their jewelry collections, Tiina says, “Save money so you can buy a signed piece of jewelry that you can wear a lot…from there, you slowly add.” She also notes, “When you can, you should buy a pair of diamond earrings that you think that you’ll wear for the next 40 years.”
Tiina’s own first fine jewelry purchase was a pair of antique diamond drop earrings—super classic—that set the tone for her personal collection’s aesthetic. “I didn’t even tell my husband that I was buying them,” she admits. “And I wore them a tremendous amount. They were the only diamond earrings that I had for a very long period of time.”
For guidance on how to curate your own jewelry box, you can bring in your pieces to Tiina Smith Jewelry in Boston, and they’ll help you select new additions and style specific looks. She and her team will also lend advice on wedding looks for the bride, bridesmaids, and mother of the bride…and on a case-by-case basis, lending of Tiina’s pieces is also a potential option.
As a 29-year-old bride, Tiina wore diamond studs, her engagement ring, and a pearl pendant with four pearls and a small diamond in the middle on a beautiful white-gold chain that she’d had for many years with her “fairly classic,” long-sleeve wedding gown—the first one she tried on. “It was more of a personal, sentimental piece of jewelry than it was a widely visible piece,” she explains. And for her second wedding, while she added more statement pieces, it was largely a look made up of pieces with emotional connections too—which, if you ask us, is just as it should be.
Shop a selection of Tiina Smith Jewelry below!
