I love seeing CMD jewelry out in the wild.

I'll spot one of our rings layered into someone's everyday stack while they're grabbing coffee, or tagged in a photo from someone traveling across Europe. Other times I'll meet someone in person who tells me they've been wearing the same CMD ring every single day for the last ten years, and I can't help but smile. Our clients can truly stop me in my tracks when I see how they make CMD their own, as an extension of their personal flair.

When I first started making jewelry back in my tiny Hayes Valley apartment in San Francisco, I wasn't interested in creating pieces that only came out for special occasions. I wanted to make jewelry that became part of people's everyday lives. The kind of ring you absentmindedly twist while you're thinking or having a conversation with your best friend. The necklace you forget you're wearing because it feels like it's always belonged there. The bracelet that collects little scratches over the years because you've taken it everywhere instead of saving it for "someday." I think jewelry is meant to be lived in.

Some of my clients tell me they haven't taken their ring off since the day they picked it up. They'll laugh and apologize because it's picked up a few little marks along the way. I always tell them the same thing: "Good! That means you're wearing it."

Jewelry isn't supposed to stay perfect forever. It's meant to be worn while collecting memories. It should go on vacations with you, become a marker of promotions, survive home renovation projects, get covered in sunscreen at the beach and accidentally get flour on it while you're baking cookies with your kids. That's the kind of life I hope every piece of CMD jewelry gets to have.

I think that's also why Reconstruction work has become such a natural extension of what I do. So many people come to me with jewelry that's been sitting in a box because it no longer fits their life. Maybe their style has changed, their ring size has fluctuated a bit, or maybe a specific piece reminds them of a phase they've outgrown. None of those things mean the jewelry has lost its value. It just means it's ready for another chapter.

When we redesign a piece, I'm always asking myself one question: Will they actually wear this? Because if the answer is no, we've missed the point.

Beautiful jewelry deserves to be seen. It deserves to become part of your daily routine instead of something you admire once or twice a year before putting it back in the box.

Every now and then I'll scroll through Instagram and see someone wearing a CMD ring they bought fifteen or twenty years ago. This never gets old. Those photos remind me that the jewelry my team and I make isn't finished when it leaves the studio. That's actually when its story begins.

To me, that's what wearable art has always meant. CMD jewelry should be worn, celebrated and lived in by real people living real lives. That's the greatest compliment I could ever receive, and it's the reason I still love doing this after all these years.

Are You Local to Asbury Park?

I'd love for you to join me at my next Open Hours on Saturday, August 29th. Let's get creative together at The Ring Bar and try on all the baubles.

Not local? Keep an eye on our Events Page and, of course, stay tuned on Instagram for all the good stuff. If you have a creative idea for a CMD Pop-Up, I’d love to hear from you!

You're perfect just the way you are,
Colleen

© Colleen Mauer Designs. All rights reserved.
Published: August 21, 2026
Updated: August 26, 2026