Extasia a real jewel for downtown Nevada City

Photo by Bob Lickter The Extasia store at 220 Broad Street features the same custom-made jewelry that is favored customers around the world.

Stephanie Freydont started the business in a barn with two others in 1995 before moving to her Tyler Foote Road location. In 15 years, she has developed a vast distribution network for her hand-crafted Cameo and Intaglio lines of jewelry.

  And its Christmas season is already looking very merry.

 “We’re right in the middle of our holiday season because everyone wants their stuff by Thanksgiving,” said Stephanie Freydont, the owner of Extasia, a company that assembles its custom-made jewelry on the San Juan Ridge.

 Freydont started the business in a barn with two others in 1995 before moving to her Tyler Foote Road location. In 15 years, she has developed a vast distribution network for her hand-crafted Cameo and Intaglio lines of jewelry.

 “We’re not trying to grow a lot. We’re just trying to improve our quality,” she said of a business strategy that continues to serve her company well.

 In addition to being found in stores nationwide and overseas, Extasia jewelry is included in this year’s “Cambria Cove,” a Hallmark gift catalogue. Its web site, Cambriacove.com, features 36 items made by the business.

  The work on Extasia’s unique line of jewelry begins in Indonesia and Bavaria where stone carvers make the images that give the products their signature look. Once that work is completed, the stones are shipped to the Ridge where the jewelry is pieced together by workers from Nevada City, Grass Valley, Penn Valley and the San Juan Ridge.

  Extasia began ramping up months ago to meet store orders for the holidays, and while the company is no longer accepting wholesale orders, individual pieces are available at www.extasia.com and the store at 220 Broad Street in Nevada City, which she opened about a year ago.