After 
nearly 
a 
decade 
of 
E-commerce 
business, 
Jean 
Jean Vintage needed a physical 
space. The vintage and antique 
jewelry store had previously 
lived exclusively on Etsy, but 
owner Emily Duffelmeyer was 
constantly fielding requests for 
in-person appointments. In a 
phone interview with The Daily, 
Duffelmeyer opened up about her 
business.
“I was getting more and more 
requests 
for 
appointments, 
especially from people who were 
wanting to invest in higher priced 
items, and they really wanted to 
see them first and try them on 
first,” Duffelmeyer said. “And 
I really had no way of hosting 
appointments 
because 
I 
was 
working out of my house.”
But Duffelmeyer’s motivations 
for 
breaking 
ground 
extend 
further 
than 
run-of-the-mill 
growing pains. She also cited 
a strong desire to be a visible 
part of Lansing’s small business 
community, 
and 
to 
have 
a 
space “where (she) could sort 

of continue to build the brand 
identity of Jean Jean visually, 
so the store could start to be 
associated with the brand; what 
are the colors, what does it smell 
like, what’s the music like, what’s 
the vibe of the store?”
As someone who has made the 
pilgrimage to Jean Jean’s physical 
location — and very nearly got 
stuck in Lansing in the process — 
I can speak from experience about 
the store’s affect. The place looks 
as crushed velvet feels. It is dark, 
moody and has a quiet opulence. 
The walls are painted a forest 
green and exquisite glass jewelry 
cases line the edges. It is clear to 
all who step foot in the premises 
that the store was designed by a 
masterful eye.
When 
asked 
about 
her 
inspiration for the space’s design, 
Duffelmeyer confessed an interest 
in creating a place reminiscent of 
the natural history museums of 
her childhood. “I remember going 
to old natural history museums on 
college campus when I was a kid — 
my parents worked at Iowa State 
University, and my grandparents 
were at (the University of Kansas). 
Those dimly-lit natural history 
museums from the ’60s, where the 

colors were sort of dark and the 
lights were low, and you had this 
sense that you were going back in 
time a little bit. So, I wanted the 
space to be a luxurious museum 
feel.”
In 
our 
conversation, 
Duffelmeyer also expressed a 
wish to diverge from the normal 
when it came to Jean Jean Vintage. 
“(Jewelry stores tend to be) really 
bright and sparkling and there’s 
track lighting everywhere and 
everything is shiny and sparkling, 
and I wanted to basically do the 
opposite of that.”
The store houses Jean Jean 
Vintage’s 
extensive 
vintage 
and antique jewelry collection, 
although most of the items can 
still be found on the Etsy shop that 
started it all. In both locations, 
one can find incredible one-of-
a-kind items such as an antique 
Russian Imperial gemstone insect 
brooch or a vintage ’30s Art Deco 
onyx and diamond cocktail ring, 
although Duffelmeyer tends to 
stock pieces that are between 70 
to 120 years old.
“I would say that what I’m 
known for is Victorian and Art 
Deco costume and fine jewelry,” 
Duffelmeyer said. “And in the 

last couple of years I’ve started 
shifting my focus to bridal jewelry 
from the same period.”
However, this was not always 
the case; when she was first 
starting, 
Duffelmeyer 
sold 
primarily 
costume 
jewelry, 
and initially built a name for 
herself through her collection of 
Czechoslovakian glass jewelry. 
She explains, “in the late 1800s 
and into the early 1900s the United 
States imported a lot of glass 
jewelry 
from 
Czechoslovakia, 
(then the) epicenter of fine hand-
faceted crystal and glass. Czech 
glass jewelry is something that 
collectors love because it is 
very intricate, and the glass is 
beautifully cut and it’s usually 
brightly colored and set in brass 
— but there’s oftentimes beautiful 
enamel accent. It has a lot of 
defining characteristics and it’s 
not made anymore.”
However, unlike other vintage 
and antique jewelry stores, Jean 
Jean Vintage paradoxically does 
not exclusively sell vintage and 
antique jewelry. In addition to 
acquiring and selling archival 
pieces, 
Duffelmeyer 
produces 
her own signature collection, 
the Jean Jean Vintage cachet 
collection. The cachet collection 

is at once new and antique: The 
pendants, rings and cufflinks are 
cast from letter seals from the 
1800s.
“If you were living in (the) 
mid-19th century and writing 
letters you probably had some 
wax seals at your desk,” she said. 
“You may have used a family 
crest, like in ring, to seal all of 
your correspondence, or you 
may have had sort of a set that 
you could rotate through to pick 
the right seal for the right letter. 
And the idea of sealing, besides 
being utilitarian way of closing 
a document, (was that) the seal 
on the outside was the first thing 
the recipient would see. And so, 
whatever you chose to stamp in 
that seal was kind of like a preview 
to the content of the letter or the 
message.” An old-fashioned email 
subject line.
The collection is captivating, in 
large part because the sentiments 
expressed on the pieces still 
resonate in a modern context.
“I love that it’s made from 
200-year-old artifacts that — even 
though they’re old sentiments — 
they’re Victorian sentiments — 
(are) still really relevant today,” 
Duffelmeyer said.
The pieces bear an image and 

an inscription, either in French, 
Italian or Latin. One popular 
piece features a sailboat on a 
turbulent sea, with the phrase 
“e cosi la mia vita,” or “such is 
life,” on one side, and a butterfly 
approaching a flower with the 
word “attendo,” or “I am waiting,” 
on the other. “As if the flower is 
talking to the butterfly (saying), 
‘I’ve been waiting for you to come 
land on me,’” she said. “It would 
be the kind of seal you would use 
to seal a love letter.”
As 
for 
the 
name, 
Jean 
Jean 
Vintage 
comes 
from 
Duffelmeyer’s middle name. “My 
dad called me Jean Jean when I 
was a little girl. He died before 
I started the business so when I 
was thinking of names, that just 
kept coming to mind. My mother’s 
middle name is Jean, too, so it’s 
kind of like the doubling of the 
name with my mom as well as the 
happy memory of that nickname 
from my dad.”
When listening to Duffelmeyer 
describe the origin of the name, 
I was struck by the poetry in 
it; a name handed down from 
older generations has come to 
represent a business that hands 
down heirlooms to individuals 
who wish to connect with history.

STYLE
Emily Duffelmeyer discusses Jean Jean Vintage

TESS TOBIN
Daily Arts Writer

Courtesy of Emily Duffelmeyer

Courtesy of Emily Duffelmeyer

6A— Monday, October 22, 2018
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

