From her early years as a very young child, Karina Brez, has had a finger in the jewelry industry. Her dad is a bench jeweler who opened a shop with his wife in Florida. After her school day was over, Brez would go to the store smile at customers and clean showcases. “I knew I wanted to design,” recounts Brez. “I went to art high school and then I wanted to go to school in London, but my parents are from Ukraine and they are old school. They didn’t want me to go so far away, so I got my GG instead.”
Inspired by Horses
Determined to forge her own way in the jewelry industry, Brez began appraising jewelry. She soon got bored by it and turned her focus to design, some of which was inspired by her love of horses. Brez, who is an equestrian herself, was volunteering for the organization Horses Healing Hearts, which is a program that helps kids who are facing the challenges of parental addiction. “My first equestrian piece was inspired by the Horses Healing Hearts logo. I redesigned the logo as a silhouette of a horse’s head with hearts. I made it into a piece of jewelry and that’s what launched my equestrian line.”
It really helps to have a father in the jewelry business. Brez does a rendering of a piece, then gives it to her dad who makes a prototype, which is then sent to either New York or Los Angeles to be made in to a jewel.
Going to Horse Shows
The gold and diamond line is comprised of seven collections each with a different horse motif, which Brez began selling at the Wellington Horse Show in Florida. “I had a very tiny spot that no one wanted. I borrowed some showcases, took some jewelry and set up my tent. The jewelry sold out. I went back again and it sold out again.”
This spurred Brez to travel to other horse shows with equal success. While it was great having the jewelry sell out, packing and unpacking proved challenging in that environment and Brez even had to get a forklift to move the safe.
The Jewelry Barn
In order to make it easier to travel to horse shows with her jewelry, Brez created a traveling jewelry store. She converted a tiny house trailer, totaling a grand 160 square feet, into a jewelry store, decorated like an old English tack room, named the Jewelry Barn. “I always say it’s the tiniest, but mightiest jewelry store in the world and it’s the only high-end jewelry store on wheels,” says Brez who was crowned Miss Florida in 2012, the same year she launched her jewelry line.
Collaborating with Dani G. Waldman
Brez has further deepened her connection to the equestrian world through a collaboration with Dani G. Waldman, who competed in the 2020 Olympics. “I took inspiration from her style, she wears a lot of feathers. I created a collection around a feather and hoof motif,” concludes Brez. “The collection is about being bold and comfortable in your own skin.”
By Amber Michelle
