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When I originally wrote this post in 2021, I was celebrating my first year in Asbury Park, NJ. After more than 15 years of building CMD in San Francisco, I'd packed up my life and business, moved across the country and landed in a colorful little beach town on the Jersey Shore. I knew pretty quickly that I'd found the right place.
Asbury Park has always felt like a natural home for CMD because individuality is everywhere here. It's creative, a little unconventional and full of people who aren't particularly interested in looking or living exactly like everyone else. That's also a pretty good description of the people I've always loved designing jewelry for.
The original reason for writing this post was Asbury Park Pride, and that part still matters to me. CMD has always been about creating jewelry for people, not prescribing who is supposed to wear a particular ring, bracelet, necklace or pair of earrings. I love seeing the same design take on a completely different personality depending on whose body it's on and what they choose to wear with it.
That's especially true of the pieces that have become signatures of my work over the years. Square rings, mixed metals, substantial bands and stacks don't need to belong to a particular gender or fit into a particular definition of what jewelry is supposed to look like. Wear what makes you feel strong, beautiful, interesting, sexy, put together or completely yourself.
A lot has changed since that first anniversary. The CMD Shop & Studio on Bond Street has become a place where people come to build stacks, try on pieces, talk through Reconstruction Projects and work with us on Custom Jewelry. We've met people from around the corner and across the country here, and this space has become much more than the new studio I was still settling into when I wrote the original post.
You can visit me by appointment, or stop in during my scheduled Open Hours or Pop-Up Events. And if Asbury Park isn't anywhere near home for you, I work with customers virtually all the time. Wherever you are and however you identify, there's room for you here.
With Pride,
Colleen
© Colleen Mauer Designs. All rights reserved.
Published: October 8, 2021
Updated: August 20, 2026
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