pamperedpuppy // luxury lifestyles for dogs

Sapphires and Silver

With "More is more" as her company motto, luxury jeweler Andrea Levine is our kind of woman. She is continually creating new beautifully designed and executed animal-themed adornments for us and our four-legged royalty. Think diamonds, sapphires, gold and silver.

Andrea has palpable exuberance for life, and a life-long love of animals. She says: "I was an only child, but grew up with a miniature silver poodle. That dog was my companion and friend, and really, like a younger brother to me. Now, I'm the happiest I can be when I'm around lots of animals. I love to be surrounded by dogs at the shows."

The initial impetus for starting Andrea Levine Jewelry came when her West Highland Terrier Duffy was awarded "Best of Winners" in the Montgomery County Kennel Club's All Terrier National Specialty Show. He went on to win many awards internationally; his AKC champion title is Am. Can. Ch. Mac-Ken-Char's Ruff-N-Tuff Duff.

To celebrate the Montgomery win, Andrea wanted something classy for her champion Westie, yet could not locate quality pieces. "Everything I found was tacky. If they had diamonds they were poorly set. I said, 'I'm going to make something fabulous myself.'"

One fabulous design led to another; soon she had developed a collection. "I started out doing dog tags, often silver with diamonds. Those first tags showed stars, bones and paw prints. Then I thought 'Hmmm. What would I want for myself?' The answer was an alligator dog leash with diamonds." She subsequently defined luxury up with her stunning leads, collars and even belts, so outdoor human escorts could match their fashionably-accessorized canines. In looking for a source for the alligator, she went so far as to contact an alligator hunter in Florida, though she wound up not using him "because he wasn't savvy with doggy stuff."

The first luxe article in this series was a black alligator collar with white diamonds and gold all around. It alternated bones with a representation of her Westie Duffy. She went on to create red alligator pieces, perfect for Valentine's Day and Christmas. She's also done a tiny collar in blue alligator with Yorkies all around, and another in diamond-studded white alligator.

Included in Andrea Levine's collection of specific breed charms are a pug, schnauzer, Lab, dachshund and Shih Tzu. "I've accommodated all manner of requests for custom orders," she says. "I know how people love their dogs, so I want to create jewelry that they can proudly wear as a symbol of that immense affection." Andrea just loves to talk about dogs with their people. One time, a woman asked whether she had a Chesapeake Bay retriever charm. At the time, she did not. When Andrea learned that the woman's Chessie was the love of her life and had just died, she exclaimed "Oh my God; tell me all about her. So she did, and then I said to myself 'How could I not do a Chessie?'"

Andrea Levine Jewelry (www.andrealevinejewelry.com) now offers two lines. The "Best in Show" line is done characteristically in diamonds and 14k or 18k gold. "Best in Show" pieces can also include different colored sapphires; Andrea is especially proud of a pink sapphire poodle she designed. She says: "Chocolate diamonds can be used for chocolate Labs, and black ones for black Labs. I also use the gold charms as enhancements for many of my silver pieces, bracelets, for example."

A portion of proceeds from the sale of Andrea's signature pink paw print is donated to the Philadelphia affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, a breast cancer organization. And not only is she a humanitarian, she's a great dogmanitarian as well, contributing to and participating in many animal-welfare fund-raisers. Andrea's jewelry has been used in the Broadway Barks fund-raising event.

Celebs love her jewelry as well. At an Animal Planet Unleashed fashion fund-raiser, Andrea met Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty, whose wife had been admiring one of her necklaces. Jai Rodriguez has one of her dog bone earrings, and Maria Menudos of Access Hollywood appeared in Andrea Levine jewelry on the cover of New York Dog magazine. A starry list of additional media notices includes an appearance on the Today Show.

When Andrea was first making her charms with their pavé diamonds, they proved so eye-catching that she won the American Jewelers' Golden Apple Award for Sparkle. Yet she wanted to create quality designs that would be appropriate for the pet trade, and so launched her second line, "Best of Breed," made of sterling and cubic zirconium. The stones are hand fitted into hand-made pieces with her signature, and feature lattice work in the back. Knowing that the pet industry is not jewelry-oriented, she created point of sale displays with trays and her signage. These are the things that set princess pups' tails to wagging.

The creation of an Andrea Levine piece is a long process and a labor of love. After doing a drawing and planning for optimal aesthetic effect with stone insertion, Andrea has a manufacturer produce a mock-up. Any detail that is not entirely up to her high standards gets rejected; it can take as long as a year for a model that finally makes the grade to come back to her. For the breed charms, she uses the AKC standard for each breed as a model in order to achieve a magnificent dog silhouette.

Andrea has also incorporated cats, horses and other animals into her pieces. To give you an idea of your options when choosing from the collections, a cat charm might be had in 14k white, yellow, rose or blackened gold. Those twinkling beauties set into it might be diamonds or sapphires. A leather cuff can be fitted with any charm from a horse to a papillon to a bull mastiff. She does admit that once, when asked to do a fine jewelry representation of a Holstein cow, she was moooooved to laugh. Her husband became so accustomed to her creating charms of rare and exotic dog breeds that he took to asking her if she was going to do invented imaginary breeds such as the East Tanzanian Fluffy Springer Pointer.

One of Andrea's most popular designs is her "open paw," which is highly distinctive. "When I started, I wanted something truly original and different. Everybody had done a standard paw print, so I thought 'What am I going to do to make it outstanding?' Pavé diamonds in a circle were part of what made the open paw design edgy, hip, and mine," she says, the pride evident in her voice.

Her Tiffany-style bracelet too has proven very popular. These are linked sterling silver with either hearts or circle charms. Everybody recognizes this as a Tiffany-style because of the heavy link with a heavy charm. Naturally, lots of people dig the dog bone; a new dog bone design with double the amount of diamonds or zirconiums generated plenty of excitement at the recent Pet Fashion Week in New York City.

Andrea Levine Jewelry is poised to become more and more fabulous; a dizzying schedule of new products and a newly designed web site are in the works. Andrea recently mounted a piece with a matching shirt, and she created one with a peace sign, a love sign, and a paw print, each inside a circle. She'll be doing a dog tag with that delightful assemblage of signs as well. Look for the introduction of many additional dog and cat breeds. In the "Best of Breed" line, there's a new heavy sterling dog tag with a bone at an angle at the top; you can put a silver chain through a hole in that bone. Andrea notes that while her pieces can be ordered through the site, if you prefer she can recommend a retailer local to you who carries her jewelry. She'll be contributing to plenty of charity events and is looking to expand her activities in that realm. Among the custom pieces she's designed for animal aid organizations is one that shows a dog getting the open paw of help. "I do it for the dogs, for the love of animals and of the charitable organizations."

Her love of dogs and inclusion of them in her life has a profound impact. She says that when her mother was on her death bed, and she was seated nearby crying, her dog would jump up in her lap, on occasion licking the tears from her face. Separately she has said: "It doesn't get much better than having animals as a part of your loving family."

The Friends page of the company website has an enchanting, stylish presentation of many dogs, cats, horses and sheep (but so far, no Holstein cow...) that have touched Andrea's life. You could say that in everything she does, there is a certain joie de chien. Whether you select one of her engravable gold lockets showing a Pembroke Welsh Corgi or three interlocking bangles with a Portuguese water dog charm, you will have an ultra-elegant piece of fine jewelry expressing your love of canines. With Andrea Levine, more is most certainly more. We wouldn't have it any other way!