See the full article below or click the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/18/fashion/watches-jewelry-diamond-studio.html?_r=1&module=ArrowsNav&contentCollection=Fashion+%26+Style&action=keypress®ion=FixedLeft&pgtype=article
GLASGOW
— In a small, windowless room above Royal Exchange Square in Glasgow,
Summera Shaheen has been customizing watches and creating jewelry for
many of the world’s professional soccer players and their teams.
DaMarcus
Beasley, an American defense player for the Houston Dynamo and the
United States’ national soccer team, is in large part responsible for
her speciality. The two met in 2007 at a charity event in Glasgow, and
she ended up making a ring for him. “I was really into jewelry and
diamonds,” said Mr. Beasley, who was playing in Scotland at the time.
“We talked, and she made a pinkie ring for me with a princess-cut
diamond. It was beautiful.
“I
started taking my teammates to meet her. They like jewelry; they like
watches; they like bling,” he continued. “I have played everywhere, so
she has done work for my teammates from all different countries.”
In
fact, Mr. Beasley has been such a big fan and steady customer, he has
collaborated with Ms. Shaheen’s Diamond Studio business to create his
own DaMarcus Collection of jewelry for men and women.
Jewelry
has long been an interest for Ms. Shaheen, a Glasgow native — “It’s my
passion,” she said. So after she completed a bachelor’s degree in
politics and human resource management from the University of
Strathclyde, she went to London to earn a certificate in diamond grading
from the Gemological Institute of America.
In
2006, she returned to Glasgow and started her own jewelry business.
“It’s difficult for a small independent brand to get the stock that
bigger jewelers have,” she said. “So I did a lot of custom work.”
Last
year, Ms. Shaheen began a service she saucily calls “Pimp My Watch.”
She was designing custom wedding rings for a couple when the groom asked
her to create a surprise for his bride: “He brought in a Rolex he had
bought in America and asked me to add diamonds to it.”
Collaborating
with a local man who has been working on watches for 25 years and
getting cut stones from her usual sources, she created a bezel of white
diamonds that can be added or removed from the watch, depending on how
much dazzle is desired. “He gave it to her on their wedding day,” she
said.
Soon,
other customers wanted their watches to be blinged out, too. A recent
customer was “going to start with having a diamond added to each number
on the face and see how he likes it,” she said. “Then he might go for
adding more diamonds to the bezel or case.”
Ms.
Shaheen’s list of jewelry and watch clients from the soccer world is
extensive, including Alan Martin, goalkeeper for the Scottish Premier
League team Hamilton Academical; Maurice Edu, midfielder with the
Philadephia Union and Team USA; Jozy Altidore, a forward for the Toronto
Football Club and Team USA; Niall McGinn, a winger for the Aberdeen
Football Club, another Scottish Premier League team, and the Northern
Ireland national team; and Joe Ledley, a central midfielder with the
English Premier League team Crystal Palace and the Welsh national team.
Mr.
Martin, who recently consulted Ms. Shaheen about adding gems to a Rolex
he owns, said, “I love the Diamond Studio because there is not any
hassle with people trying to be in your face.”
“Summera
takes her time and gives ideas on what you could do with the diamonds,”
he said. “She takes pride in her business and puts everything into it.”
Ms.
Shaheen also creates authorized jewelry collections for several soccer
teams, something she says is a first. “No one has ever done quality
official jewelry for sports associations before,” at least not complete
ranges, she said.
And
getting the agreements was not easy, she added. “It’s difficult for a
female to be taken seriously, especially in the world of sports,” she
said, “But because it was so hard, that made it exciting. If you see
barriers, you just have to work harder.”
She
uses a team’s official colors as the starting point for the jewelry,
which includes rings, bracelets, pendants, money clips, earrings and
card cases that Ms. Shaheen noted are “for holding your season tickets.”
Some items are ready made, but everything can be customized in silver,
9-karat gold or even platinum. (Jewelry starts at 50 pounds, or $70, and
customized pieces at £300.)
For
example, white diamonds and red rubies can be used for Aberdeen team
pieces, which have the team crest discreetly stamped on the back, or
black and white diamonds for the Fulham Football Club, in the Football
League Championship.
“It’s not like the usual sports jewelry,” she said. “It’s not hideous. And there’s something for female fans to buy, too.”
She
also is the official jeweler for the Scotland national team and just
signed a contract with the Northern Ireland national team. On her dream
list: signing up Team USA.
Ms.
Shaheen, however, always has her eye out for a new creation. Her latest
is Diamond Dogs, a gold or silver tag studded with a small diamond and
the dog’s name and, on the back, the owner’s name or whatever
information is requested.
In
December, when George Clooney was in Edinburgh at the Scottish Business
Awards, the Scottish Chamber of Commerce presented one to the actor
engraved for Millie, the basset hound that he and his wife adopted from a
California shelter.
Mr.
Martin, the Hamilton goalkeeper, has three dogs and is discussing
getting tags for them all. And what does Ms. Shaheen plan to call the
line in her business’s social media outreach? “Pimp My Dog,” she said
with a laugh.
We are so delighted to have featured in the #NewYorkTimes, it's such an honour especially to have all the people included in it who have been a special part of our journey so far.
See the full article below or click the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/18/fashion/watches-jewelry-diamond-studio.html?_r=1&module=ArrowsNav&contentCollection=Fashion+%26+Style&action=keypress®ion=FixedLeft&pgtype=article
GLASGOW
— In a small, windowless room above Royal Exchange Square in Glasgow,
Summera Shaheen has been customizing watches and creating jewelry for
many of the world’s professional soccer players and their teams.
DaMarcus
Beasley, an American defense player for the Houston Dynamo and the
United States’ national soccer team, is in large part responsible for
her speciality. The two met in 2007 at a charity event in Glasgow, and
she ended up making a ring for him. “I was really into jewelry and
diamonds,” said Mr. Beasley, who was playing in Scotland at the time.
“We talked, and she made a pinkie ring for me with a princess-cut
diamond. It was beautiful.
“I
started taking my teammates to meet her. They like jewelry; they like
watches; they like bling,” he continued. “I have played everywhere, so
she has done work for my teammates from all different countries.”
In
fact, Mr. Beasley has been such a big fan and steady customer, he has
collaborated with Ms. Shaheen’s Diamond Studio business to create his
own DaMarcus Collection of jewelry for men and women.
Jewelry
has long been an interest for Ms. Shaheen, a Glasgow native — “It’s my
passion,” she said. So after she completed a bachelor’s degree in
politics and human resource management from the University of
Strathclyde, she went to London to earn a certificate in diamond grading
from the Gemological Institute of America.
In
2006, she returned to Glasgow and started her own jewelry business.
“It’s difficult for a small independent brand to get the stock that
bigger jewelers have,” she said. “So I did a lot of custom work.”
Last
year, Ms. Shaheen began a service she saucily calls “Pimp My Watch.”
She was designing custom wedding rings for a couple when the groom asked
her to create a surprise for his bride: “He brought in a Rolex he had
bought in America and asked me to add diamonds to it.”
Collaborating
with a local man who has been working on watches for 25 years and
getting cut stones from her usual sources, she created a bezel of white
diamonds that can be added or removed from the watch, depending on how
much dazzle is desired. “He gave it to her on their wedding day,” she
said.
Soon,
other customers wanted their watches to be blinged out, too. A recent
customer was “going to start with having a diamond added to each number
on the face and see how he likes it,” she said. “Then he might go for
adding more diamonds to the bezel or case.”
Ms.
Shaheen’s list of jewelry and watch clients from the soccer world is
extensive, including Alan Martin, goalkeeper for the Scottish Premier
League team Hamilton Academical; Maurice Edu, midfielder with the
Philadephia Union and Team USA; Jozy Altidore, a forward for the Toronto
Football Club and Team USA; Niall McGinn, a winger for the Aberdeen
Football Club, another Scottish Premier League team, and the Northern
Ireland national team; and Joe Ledley, a central midfielder with the
English Premier League team Crystal Palace and the Welsh national team.
Mr.
Martin, who recently consulted Ms. Shaheen about adding gems to a Rolex
he owns, said, “I love the Diamond Studio because there is not any
hassle with people trying to be in your face.”
“Summera
takes her time and gives ideas on what you could do with the diamonds,”
he said. “She takes pride in her business and puts everything into it.”
Ms.
Shaheen also creates authorized jewelry collections for several soccer
teams, something she says is a first. “No one has ever done quality
official jewelry for sports associations before,” at least not complete
ranges, she said.
And
getting the agreements was not easy, she added. “It’s difficult for a
female to be taken seriously, especially in the world of sports,” she
said, “But because it was so hard, that made it exciting. If you see
barriers, you just have to work harder.”
She
uses a team’s official colors as the starting point for the jewelry,
which includes rings, bracelets, pendants, money clips, earrings and
card cases that Ms. Shaheen noted are “for holding your season tickets.”
Some items are ready made, but everything can be customized in silver,
9-karat gold or even platinum. (Jewelry starts at 50 pounds, or $70, and
customized pieces at £300.)
For
example, white diamonds and red rubies can be used for Aberdeen team
pieces, which have the team crest discreetly stamped on the back, or
black and white diamonds for the Fulham Football Club, in the Football
League Championship.
“It’s not like the usual sports jewelry,” she said. “It’s not hideous. And there’s something for female fans to buy, too.”
She
also is the official jeweler for the Scotland national team and just
signed a contract with the Northern Ireland national team. On her dream
list: signing up Team USA.
Ms.
Shaheen, however, always has her eye out for a new creation. Her latest
is Diamond Dogs, a gold or silver tag studded with a small diamond and
the dog’s name and, on the back, the owner’s name or whatever
information is requested.
In
December, when George Clooney was in Edinburgh at the Scottish Business
Awards, the Scottish Chamber of Commerce presented one to the actor
engraved for Millie, the basset hound that he and his wife adopted from a
California shelter.
Mr.
Martin, the Hamilton goalkeeper, has three dogs and is discussing
getting tags for them all. And what does Ms. Shaheen plan to call the
line in her business’s social media outreach? “Pimp My Dog,” she said
with a laugh.
