Family travels the world in search of fine jewelry
Trip to Italy sparks a new love and a new business venture
BY DAN NEWMAN
Staff Writer

Above: Kaitlin O'Neill (l-r), Kim O'Neill and Judy Farrell are the co-owners of J2K Jewelry, an Internet business based in Middletown that sells a variety of hand-crafted Venetian jewelry. Inset: This necklace is one of the many pieces that J2K Jewelry offers. At left: These Murano glass necklaces are available through J2K Jewelry.

MIDDLETOWN - Those who have been to Venice can attest to the fact that the city is home to some amazing scenery, with its canals and bridges, as well as the work that local merchants create, like hand-crafting and molding glass.

Following a family trip to the northern Italian city last year, Kim O'Neill, her mother, Judy Farrell, and daughter Kaitlin, came home with plenty of stories and photographs about the excursion, but also with an idea to start a business.

"We literally fell in love with the glass jewelry that we saw over there, and so we brought some of it home with us and people really loved it. They were amazed how nice it looked," O'Neill said.

From there, the trio decided to start a Web-based business that focuses on unique jewelry pieces from different parts of the world. J2K Jewelry currently offers a selection of authentic hand-crafted Venetian glass pendants, bracelets, earrings, rings and watches from Italy. O'Neill also said that, besides finding items on the company's Web site, www.j2kjewelry.com, they conduct in-home demonstrations, a la Tupperware parties.

"We've already booked a few in-home parties and so we want to give the people the opportunity to see our items up-close and personal," O'Neill said. "We have very unique items that are very dynamic."

While the women are looking to get off to a good start businesswise (the business launched on April 5), they also feel it's important to give back to their community. Ten percent of the proceeds from their Venetian glass jewelry sales will be donated to the Timothy Pauxtis Foundation (www.timothypauxtisfoundation.org), a foundation that supports pediatric brain tumor research. A percentage from the sales of items from other countries and regions will be donated to other charities, according to O'Neill.

"We have been blessed in our lives and know that it's crucial to give our support to worthy charities and we will expand on this idea even further in the future," O'Neill said.

With any business, however, there are always obstacles to overcome.

"The hardest part has been to find a manufacturer of the jewelry," O'Neill said. "We're really just feeling our way around things right now."

And there was the issue of actually convincing those close to them that the business could become a success.

"Some people thought that we were nuts for even trying this. We've been involved with our family's valve automation business for over 20 years, and so we felt like it was the ladies' turn to get things started," O'Neill said. "I think overall, people are a bit leery, but they're definitely supportive as well."

As for the next destination in search of fine jewelry, the women plan on returning to familiar territory.

"On May 16, we're headed back to Italy, this time to Florence. We'll meet with a manufacturer. This time, it's more of a business trip," O'Neill said.

For further information about j2kjewelry or to schedule an in-home demonstration, call O'Neill at (732) 500-1402 or visit the company's Web site, www.j2kjewelry.com.