Kate Marks, gemologist and owner of Marks of Design, loves to be involved, whether it”™s by helping a clueless suitor find the right diamond or by giving her time to better her community.
Marks grew up outside of Binghamton, N.Y., and attended the State University of New York at Geneseo and then SUNY New Paltz, where she earned a degree in metalsmithing.
“I graduated from college and then began to work for art galleries. I realized that it wasn”™t going to get me my house and my two point five kids.”
Marks began working for a jeweler on Nantucket, where she met her husband, Chris.
“I learned a lot there. I fine-tuned what I knew. We lived on Nantucket for a while and I worked for a couple of jewelers. Then we moved to Colorado where I started to work for a big designer, John Atencio in Denver.”
Marks began to move into the more advanced parts of the industry, forging metal.
“I had the hammer and the torches. I”™m very hands on, I get down and dirty, not what I appear. Again I learned a whole lot and I was able to do his ”˜look.”™”
Marks loved the work she was doing but Colorado didn”™t suit her and after three years she and her husband moved back to Nantucket, though they would not stay long, moving to Connecticut soon after and buying a house in Shelton.
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Marks promptly took a risk on a then just developing downtown Shelton and opened up her jewelry store, Marks of Design, on Howe Avenue 10 years ago.
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Marks”™ arrival in Shelton would stimulate two great loves of hers, community service and travel.
“I became very involved in the community.”
In addition to industry affiliations, Marks serves the Shelton community as a commissioner and editor at the Shelton Economic Development Corp., a commissioner at the Birmingham Group, a chairperson for the Boys and Girls Club, and a member of the board of directors of the Derby-Shelton Rotary Club, currently serving as sergeant-at-arms.
“I love to give back, especially with the Rotary Club. I”™m able to give back the immediate community and the international community. It”™s a good feeling. I”™m volunteering physically and monetarily.”
Marks served a year as president for the Rotary Club. She has even started to get her three children involved in the process of giving back.
“I may own a jewelry store and it may seem all fine and dandy. But I want my kids to understand how we got to the point we”™re at now and it”™s a lot of hard work.”
The Marks”™ traveling habits began to develop when the couple went to Antwerp, Belgium, the diamond cutting capital of the world, one fall with friends from the Retail Jewelers Organization. They now take the trip every year and allow customers to make requests of diamonds they would like to bring back.
“The buying trip allows us to act as a direct broker to our customers and save significant money for our clients. We try to bend over backwards for people and make it happen in their budget. It”™s really a sad day when I have to say I just can”™t do that for you.”
Marks said the trip also allows friends of the industry to come together overseas once a year and compare notes.
With all of Marks”™ involvement, her family, the business and voluntary commitments she has proved herself as a dynamo of participation; having even recently joined a softball league, something she hadn”™t done since high school.
