Prepared by WAAC Member, Westport Poet Laureate Diane Lowman

Welcome back to the Westport Local Press’s Westport Arts Advisory Committee’s “Culture Corner.” Each month, the WAAC scours our 33.45 square miles and highlight one of the many artists – visual, written, performance, and other – who call Westport home. These artists create a spectrum of color that shines over town like the rainbows often seen over the Saugatuck, so we have made “color” our theme.

As we move into fall, we may think of the vibrant hues of the foliage, but at the end of this month, everything goes black – ok, and maybe orange, too – for Halloween. This month we profile a Westport gem that shines bright despite this month’s goth vibe. We gravitated to jewelry designer extraordinaire Jaime Camche for October because the stunning gem-encrusted skulls she created a few years ago specifically for Halloween.

She has lived in town for 27 years. Not long thereafter, Wende Cohen of Bungalow Design offered her a space to show her line, JL Rocks, in her Sconset Square home furnishings store; 25 years later, Camche has two brick and mortar locations as well as a thriving online shop at JL Rocks.com. Her life in bling began many years ago when she worked in Hong Kong as a production merchandiser and befriended the owner of a fine jewelry factory there. She honed her craft through hands-on hours absorbing information about gemstones and the skills needed to turn them into wearable works of art, like setting and mold-making. That same factory is still JL Rock’s main source of production.

Camche, who now works with other designers as well, says that JL Rocks aims to “design pieces that are easily worn in a casual way.” While they do feature some “occasion” jewelry, “the bulk of the pieces work as well with workout wear and evening attire.” Her team always starts with the stones and a rough sketch of their ideas. This then translates to a CAD (computer-aided design), which allows them to create a mold so they can cast the precious metals and stones. The entire process takes anywhere from eight to ten weeks.

Camche always feels especially touched when family members approach her to repurpose meaningful pieces. She aims to retain the sentiment of the heirloom while creating a more updated design. She is hard pressed to pick a favorite piece, (“they are all my children!) but especially likes the current collection of carabiners that can attach to and enhance existing necklaces or bracelets.

JL Rocks has a strong social conscience. The site features a Women Who Give Back page (https://jlrocks.com/blogs/women-who-give-back), which “celebrates influential philanthropists.” Here visitors can learn about the important work of luminaries such as Andi Sklar, Lynn Thomas, Ara Jin, and Emily Liebert while seeing them wearing pieces that shine as brightly as their commitment to good.

Camche champions and mentors talent destined to create new treasures in her workshop. For example, in house designer Devon Woodhill has an exciting new Fall collection rich in colored gemstones debuting soon. Camche is excited to launch all her designers’ new styles. See them and the whole collection at https://jlrocks.com/. Westport is lucky to have this not-so-hidden gemstone in our midst!