About Jewelry by Zhelaine

Who We Are

Jewelry by Zhelaine

Zhelaine's family ran a thriving handcrafted retail store in the community of Estes Park for 25 years, born from the artistry of her father (a talented woodworker) and mother (who created gorgeous pottery). The couple also crafted wind chimes in those early years, with the 6-year old Zhelaine rolling beads for musical art, strummed by nature, and made of earth, wood and wire. Was it then that Zhelaine found her life’s calling?

Jewelry by Zhelaine, Inc. came to be in 1990 while Zhelaine attended CSU. Through her studies in anthropology she was exposed to wonderful peoples and cultures throughout the world. Inspired by Peru and the beautiful, hand-painted beads from the mountainous region, the INCAdessence line was born! Heather continued her studies (graduating cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa) with a major in Anthropology and a minor in Spanish.

In 1995, inspired by the diverse world of Native Americans (specifically Zuni), the STONEessence line was born. It began with a few simple bear and multi-inlay designs, and over the years has blossomed into 400 unique designs, all made by Zhelaine or a small staff of students and stay-at-home mothers.

Jewelry by Zhelaine is a values- driven organization, and Heather believes in fostering creativity in staff and cultivating the next generation of jewelry designers. For the past 15 years Heather has hired CSU students with specialties in art and jewelry to not only hand-make the line, but also offer new and unique design perspectives.

“I love designing and creating with all the many stones and gemstones in our world. I continue to search for that next ‘big thing’ that will inspire us and ultimately our customers!’ Heather says. “It is my desire to continue providing unique, high quality products, the best customer service and competitively priced hand-made jewelry from Colorado! I believe that we small business owners are the backbone of our nation! We provide the artists a place to thrive and give our customers a product of value that will last for years to come.” 

Thank you, 
Zhelaine

A Note on Our Gorgeous Stones

We source our stones from all over the world. We buy our beads loose and create beautiful pairs of earrings, bracelets and necklaces from our location in Colorado. We have beautifully crafted descriptions of each stone in each listing to help you pick the piece that connects with you!

We have two general types of stones that we work with.

1) The multi inlay line of southwestern inspired beads are composed of a resin composite material that mirrors the following natural stones: turquoise, malachite, lapis, coral, spiny oyster and sugilite.

2) The natural raw real stones of our earthy stone line are composed of real stones from all over the world. These are not simulated, but real stones and gemstones.

None of our stones were mined in Colorado. Most mining has stopped or is left to the independent small miner. Stones that are found in Colorado are turquoise, aquamarine and rhodochrosite is our state mineral.

Jewelry by Zhelaine is pleased to bring you the most beautiful specimens from around the world! We love to create and bead our inspired creations here in Colorado! We have been making and selling our jewelry in Colorado stores and around the country for over 25 years!