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SalonikaJewelry line designed by Bryce Gruber  One of Bryce Gruber's necklace designs.  Salonika's holiday jewelry line features handmade glass heart pendants    Steve, on the other hand, found this length to be rather enticing. Too enticing, I thought, when I came to realize that this length simply gave him all the more reason to study the cleavages of these Grecian goddesses. As I was shooting Steve an overly exaggerated roll of my eyes, I overheard a conversation nearby. "This is a beautiful collection, Bryce, I'm impressed by your design." Quickly, I turned my head in expectation of the elusive shiny-shoed Salonikas designer. What I found instead was a pretty 20-something girl with conservative metropolitan style. Within minutes of introducing myself, I realized that this was not your average 22-year old girl. She was an erudite woman hidden inside youthful skin. She was quite articulate in describing her line and confident in its impact. The inspiration and intention of which, Bryce describes as "sensual, romantic and moderate in price." She continued, "my family stems from the Mediterranean coast of what was once Turkey, in a city named Salonika," hence the brand name. As we chatted, I discovered a sense of feminism in the glass heart pendants that I had initially overlooked. The location of the pendant was sexually alluring while the pendant itself was a symbol of empowerment. She is known for creating pieces that can be worn with versatility; one line of "bracelets are worn multiple ways: On the wrist, around the neck, and in the hair," Bryce added. An interesting idea, I thought, since one bracelet could almost be seen as three entirely separate pieces. Every fashion magazine is currently ranting and raving about low-hanging heart-shaped pendants. Gruber took this trend and kept it stylish without being overly trendy and by keeping true to her ancestry specifically through her color and shape choices. At $65 a pop, this is not the average New York pricing nor is it spawned from the archetypal stuffy designer. Rather, Bryce opened Salonikas because she was self-invented, able to finance her dreams via past success in the real estate world. She has literally placed her heart in her jewelry designs, and as she said before sipping on her glass of red wine, "designed each piece by hand and no two pieces are identical." Gruber aspires to create a variety of accessories and one day to open up a clothing line. Right now, her most popular pieces are her necklaces and bracelets, many of which contain symbols such as "the evil eye" an idea which she attributes to her Mediterranean ancestry. Said Gruber, "They are supposed to protect you in the Turkish culture from negative energy. The stunning glass bead bracelets are hand blown in Turkey." She described a recent line called "Envy" as being "made with gorgeous weathered copper-tone metal chains, ultra-high quality jades, dyed agates, and other semi-precious stones." Given her strong vision, I appreciated that this determined levelheaded artist who "eats ice cream every night" won't judge this fellow 22-year-old by what she wears to jewelry promotion events because next time--if Steve comes through (and he'd better)--I'll be wearing a heart of glass. salonikaltd.com
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Prices averaging $65
