Megan Piccione seeks inspiration for her handcrafted jewelry from fashion, nature and beyond. Her goal for her new Beachwood boutique, Megan Piccione High Jewelry, is twofold: making everyday jewelry “but elevated,” and developing haute couture pieces, she tells Jstyle.
Piccione, who partnered with Jstyle for the spring photo shoot, takes a particularly hands-on approach to jewelry making. A graduate of the Gemological Institute of America, she uses computer-aided design software to build custom pieces. She meets with clients by appointment to explore her gallery and invites them to work with her to design a one-of-a-kind piece.
“It’s special because the customers feel like they’re really a part of the whole process,” she says. “And because it’s made by me 100%, I can send them photos of the process along the way and they’re like, ‘Oh my God, she really is making this by herself.’”
After opening her 1,000-square-foot jewelry store at 3201 Enterprise Parkway in December 2023, Piccione follows in the footsteps of her father and grandfather, becoming a third-generation jeweler. Her grandfather, Vince Piccione, started the family business 75 years ago at Piccione Jewelry in Ravenna. Her father, Dave, later took over and “took it to a completely different realm of success,” she says.
Megan Piccione, now 29, first began setting diamonds in her basement four years ago. Initially, she visited clients at their homes. However, as her client base grew, she decided to open her boutique. All its jewelry, except for a line of watches, is created by her.
“You no longer have to go to New York, Miami or Beverly Hills to get your hands on haute couture. It’s now right here in Beachwood and open to my customers in a private, uninterrupted and tasteful experience,” says Piccione, a congregant of The Temple-Tifereth Israel in Beachwood. Her father, Dave, also assists her with the boutique’s operations.
And for the Jstyle photo shoot, Piccione selected jewelry to fit the models’ outfits from local fashion boutiques, also with which Jstyle partners. Her favorite piece from the photo shoot was a blue sapphire and diamond ring, which she notes is naturally mined, unheated and untreated – making it fully natural – and deep in color yet with “a beautiful sheen to it when it hits the lighting.”
“The design around it really accentuates that color, so the diamonds in that shape and in the design that they’re in really bring that piece to a higher level,” she adds. “Rather than just everyday, where it’s more of a statement piece.”
-Amanda Koehn
Freelance journalist Kevin Corvo contributed to this report.