CB Stark Jewelry on Martha's Vineyard

Cheryl Barbara "C.B." Stark came to Martha' s Vineyard to teach jewelry making in 1966. She was nineteen years old and a student of jewelry and silversmithing at The School of The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. For the next four years, she divided her time between her small shop in Vineyard Haven and her booth on 47th Street in New York City's diamond district. Cartier and Georg Jenson were among her clients, and she was an immediate hit as one of the first women to have her own booth on the famous block.
Cheryl settled on the island year-round in 1970, supplementing her income during the first few years by scalloping, waitressing, carpentry and house painting. Today, Cheryl continues her work as a designer and loves the daily challenges of the business she created.

Margery

In 1972, Margery Meltzer joined the business, first as an apprentice and then a few years later as a full-time partner. Margery worked primarily at "the bench" for over thirty years, doing repair work, creating new designs and overseeing C.B. Stark's jewelry production. For the past few years she has continued to design new pieces for the C.B. Stark collection, as well as beginning to work at her new passion, abstract painting.

Read the article:
"Jeweler C.B Stark Marks Forty Years"
by Max Hart
(VIneyard Gazette, Friday, June 2, 2006)

Sarah York, the store manager, joined C.B. Stark in 2002. She began working in the jewelryindustry at the age of nineteen, when she took a summer job working for a large national jewelry chain on Cape Cod. Within a few months she was a store manager. She realized that she loved the jewelry industry but didn't want to work for a large corporation. Sarah then became the service manager at Guertin Brothers Jewelers, a well-known independent jewelery retailer on Cape Cod. In 2002, she moved her career to Martha's Vineyard. She currently lives "off-island" in Falmouth and commutes to the Vineyard by ferry.
Sarah continues to further her education with the Gemological Institute of America, where she has many certifications, including her Graduate Diamonds Diploma. Her education and experience help her work with customers to design one-of-a-kind pieces or create new jewelry out of old.

Jennifer Foxlee dabbled in jewelry making in high school and planned on majoring in automotive design in college. Her passion for craft won out, and she received her BFA in Metals and Jewelry at The Center for Creative Studies - College of Art and Design in Detroit.
In 2001, Jen came to Martha's Vineyard from Michigan to work for the summer. She met Cheryl shortly after arriving and after a few months she was working part-time soldering charm bracelets for C.B. Stark. She spent the next two summers on the Vineyard, returning home during the winters. While in Michigan she worked at Atlas Jewelers on the bench and managed their sister store, Extreme Jewelry. In 2004, she made the island her home, working year round both on the sales floor and on the bench.
As well as working full-time for C.B. Stark, Jen has been teaching jewelry making at Featherstone Center for the Arts in Oak Bluffs since 2002.

Jeff Regan began working in metal in high school, making knives, fireplace tools, bowls and ladles, as well as learning the basics of soldering and piercing metal with a jeweler's saw. In the tenth grade, a new teacher joined the staff and introduced him to casting and stone cutting. He began to work on tiny, intricate pieces of jewelry, rather than the large, heavy pieces he had been used to working on. He helped pay for his senior prom by making weddings rings for his teacher's client.
Jeff fell in love with the prospect of turning rough, raw materials into something beautiful and functional. He was hooked. After high school, he apprenticed for a local goldsmith and learned more about jewelry repair and manufacturing.
While he has attended many workshops over the years, most of his skills have been self-taught. He has spent the past thirty or so years honing these techniques and experimenting with new ones.
Prior to opening his own studio in 1991, he worked for several local upscale jewelers, specializing in repair, restorations, and creating custom jewelry.
In the summer of 2002, Jeff joined C.B. Stark as its full-time, year-round jeweler. From simple chain solders, to complex antique restorations and custom creations, his vast experience has made him a valuable asset and integral part of C.B. Stark.
Jeff lives on Cape Cod, in Marstons Mills, and commutes to work on the ferry.

Karen Whiteley began working with C.B. Stark in 2006 and earned her Accredited Jewelry Professional Diploma the next year. She is the Edgartown store manager, and during the off-season she works part time in the Vineyard Haven store. When not on the island, Karen lives in North Attleboro.

MAIN STREET · VINEYARD HAVEN · NORTH WATER STREET · EDGARTOWN
TOLL-FREE 1-888-CB-STARK