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conomic forecasters
should take a lesson
from New Yorker Jay
Strongwater. When the
designer noticed sagging sales in
his jewelry collection, he switched
his business to bejeweled picture
frames, miniature boxes and other
glitzy home decor products. His
projected 2002 sales income,
according to Entrepreneur maga-
zine, is more than $25 million.
Strongwater, 42, recently visit-
ed Saks Fifth Avenue in the
Somerset Collection to promote
five limited-edition perfume com-
pacts in a joint venture with Estee
Lauder. In the morning he met
with the sales staff and related his
fascinating background.
While attending the Rhode
Island School of Design, he began
designing fashion jewelry. His
mother, Penny Feinberg, was his
sales agent. "She was a proud
Jewish mother," he recalls. He
went to "open viewing days" at

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BY CARLA' SCHW.ARTZ .

PHOTOGRAPHY BY KRISTA HUSA

Benders and Bergdorf Goodman
in New York, where the retailers
viewed his work and gladly agreed
to sell his line under his given
name, Jay Feinberg. He then
accessorized Oscar de la
Renta's couture collection.
In the early 1990s,
Strongwater noticed the trend
from large, chunky jewelry to
minimalist, spare designs. It
was then that he switched his
design focus to decorative
accessories. Unable to retain
his name when switching busi-
nesses, lie used his mother's
maiden name, Strongwater,
and again enlisted the help of
his family, including his dad,
Marty, and Aunt Evelyn. His
first Strongwater design was a
Swarovski-studded frame
inspired by a drop crystal ear-
ring.
Today his collection has
expanded from frames to time-
pieces, boxes, bowls, figurines,

candles and candlesticks. Look
for compacts and leather goods in
2003.
"There are sometimes 16,000

crystals around the frame," says
an animated Strongwater, who
adds that the pieces look good at
any angle. "It's all made in
America," he adds
proudly, with a small
studio in New York
and a production
team in Rhode
Island under the aus-
pices of Weingeroff
Enterprises.
Back in New York,
his dad and Aunt
Evelyn still stop by.
"They are an inspira-
tion for me."