Meet Tammy Dominik of Jewel Princess

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tammy Dominik.

Hi Tammy, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
As a woman who has four generations of jewelers on both my paternal and maternal sides, you could say it was my destiny to create jewelry. I fell in love with colored gemstones and found a unique world within the jewelry industry while studying gemology and jewelry design at the Gemological Institute of America’s world headquarters. There, I studied with international students from Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, Paris, and India and became fascinated by how diverse both the people and the gemstones we worked with were. I’ve always appreciated both art and science, and gemology school helped me realize that jewelry was the perfect intersection of these two passions. In my gemology studies, I spent most days looking into the beautiful micro-world of gemstones through a microscope. In jewelry design, I spent my days and nights doing hand renderings via gouache and watercolor. It has truly been a dream come true.

I grew up in my family’s jewelry store, and while it was a huge blessing and I was able to learn so much, I always knew that I wanted to create a legacy of my own. After graduating from GIA, I started my own jewelry business and never looked back. Since then, I’ve fully immersed myself in my craft, learning as much as I could from anyone who would teach me. I have been extremely blessed to have been able to study engraving and goldsmithing under Jason Marchiafava, former master craftsman of Tiffany & Co and Blaine Lewis of New Approach School for Jewelers.

I dove headfirst into the world of sustainability after learning about how impacted communities and the environment were by our industry. I am at the early stages of launching a nonprofit that aims to mobilize the influence our industry has to make an impact in the world, and have also joined the board of the Jewelry Industry Summit, a nonprofit which strives to bring the jewelry industry together to advance sustainability and responsible sourcing. I am still at the beginning stages of my career, and am looking forward to where this journey takes me.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Some of the biggest struggles in my journey have been dealing with doubt – both from myself and from others. My own perfectionism and fear of failure were the biggest detriment to my success in learning my craft and growing my business. In addition, there were a lot of people around me who didn’t believe in my vision — some even said I might fail. In response, I worked persistently at cultivating a positive environment, mindset, and perseverance towards my goals. With every win, the belief that I was capable of so much more drove me to dream even bigger. Some would say that my optimism and dreams are outlandish, but I’m more afraid of not having tried at all than having attempted a far-fetched goal and failed.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
The Jewel Princess is a company based in beautiful Laguna Beach, CA that  specializes in creating unique works of wearable art with meaning. It is our greatest joy to create a piece of jewelry that embodies a significant moment, feeling or energy that will last forever. All of our pieces are created mindfully using responsibly sourced and recycled metals and gemstones. We know that the love, energy, and materials that we instill in our pieces is something that our clients will carry with them, and we have very high standards for anything that we manifest in this world. We love creating things that are truly unique and live for a challenge. We have created everything from tiaras and grills to engagement rings and family signet rings. We also love using family jewels that have been passed down to create modern heirlooms– a piece that carries significance, and is one-of-a-kind.

We specialize in sourcing colored gemstones and estate diamonds and work mainly in 14k-24k gold and platinum. A client will come to us with an idea, emotion or color in mind and we will help them embody that first via sketches, watercolor renderings or wax carvings before creating the piece in metal. 

One of our greatest passions has always been helping others, and we’re so excited about our new trajectory of becoming a 100% cause-based jewelry company. In 2021 we plan on partnering with nonprofits so that every piece of jewelry that is purchased from us will benefit an amazing cause. One of our dreams is to create jewelry schools in countries with little to no opportunity to help provide jobs. Utilizing our art form to create an impact on the world brings even greater purpose to our work, and we’re so thrilled to have the ability to do this great work.

Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
Create values to align yourself with, and push forward relentlessly until you’ve accomplished everything you’ve ever dreamed of. And then dream bigger.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: thejewelprincess.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/thejewelprincess
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jewelprincess
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/jewel__princess
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6NaWRufdd2uep-Q9dmX6Pw

Image Credits
Colorful Proposal Photo: Daniel Rodriguez @dmrdepictions Tiara Photo: Matthew Pyle mallenphotography.com Purple Ring Photo: Sara Rey Photography @sararey.photography sararey.com