ABOUT OFFERINGS JEWELRY

Marianna and Richard Jacobs

OfferingsJewelry.com is a secure shopping web site devoted exclusively to offering sterling silver, gold and 22K vermeil handcrafted and designed jewelry, created by Richard and Marianna Jacobs.

We have a staff on hand during normal business hours to answer eMail, customer service and telephone requests. To correspond by mail, send your letter to P.O. Box 910, Putney, VT 05346. If you don't see want you want, please call. We are happy to try and fill your needs for jewelry from the thousands of jewelry pieces available. The Jacobs create hundreds of new semi-precious and precious gemstone designs each year, so chances are- if you don't see that pair or earrings or pendant you just have to have-we'll have it!

Over the past 20 years the Offerings Jewelry team has grown from selling jewelry in a converted barn to our present staff working happily in our office on Kimball Hill. The Offerings Jewelry retail store is open Monday - Saturday 10AM - 6PM and Sunday 11AM - 5PM. We spend our days creating new and interesting ways to sell jewelry online, help our many loyal customers and welcome new customers to Offerings Jewelry online, on ebay auctions, as well as other retail options.

A Bit More History

In 1987, Marianna and Richard Jacobs lived in a thatched roof bamboo house in the rice paddies of Ubud, the cultural center of Bali, Indonesia. As a graduate student at Yale School of Art, Richard won a Luce Scholarship to paint in Bali. Marianna spent the year working in a silver factory, creating jewelry and learning the ancient secrets of the Balinese master silversmiths.

One of the many aspects of Balinese culture that influenced the Jacobs was the daily tradition of making exquisite floral "offerings" to appease the gods. These "offerings" can be as simple as a few flower petals with rice and incense in a palm leaf. For a temple ceremony, it is common to see a line of women walking to temple with ornate floral and fruit "offerings" stacked up to six feet high on top of their heads.

The Jacobs consider their endeavor a collaboration between themselves as designers who draw every design, the incredible jewelers they contract with in Bali to hand make every piece, and Mother Earth as the source of the miraculous healing stones they use in their jewelry.

According to Richard, "One of the most exciting aspects of the business is the pursuit of high quality semiprecious stones from all over the world." Sometimes new styles call for a particular stone combination, but often, discovering a new stone can spark a whole new design direction. For example, after a recent find of a rare source for Namibian Pietersite, the Jacobs designed several pin/pendants with these mysterious stones.

Marianna and Richard still hand draw Offerings Jewelry designs. Over the years their jewelry line has developed to take on a style that is unmistakably contemporary, and yet, the designs remain rooted with a subtle ethnic character. This is due to "The Balinese techniques, including the hand granulation of small dots of silver - so beautiful and unique." says Marianna.

Visit our book selection page for book titles to learn more about semiprecious stones. We also have a Gemstone Guide that will introduce visitors to some of the many gemstones that Offerings uses in its jewelry.