Brianna Mae Designs is a sparkling new jeweler in Vergas

By Heather Rule, photos provided

Brianna Mae Designs is a jewelry business that started with young business owner Brianna Mae Alley using copper wire to wrap stones. Using social media for inspiration in designs, Alley worked on her craft for a few years before moving back home to Perham. Then she thought: Why not turn this into a jewelry store business?

She opened her doors on Memorial Day weekend in 2024. Brianna Mae Designs is located two doors down from Billy’s, at 140 East Main Street in Vergas. Her store hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, plus every other Saturday. Check out her Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61558633841673) for all the latest information.

She also has the help of mentors Tom and Kathy Gould, of TA Gould Jeweler in Perham. Tom has been her teacher as Alley works with sterling silver, setting stones and handmaking pendants. She’s also done some jewelry repair work.

She tries to emulate as much as she can from the inspiration she gets from seeing artwork from other artists on social media.

“I can see something and usually put it together just by thinking about how it’s made,” Alley said. “Which is really cool.”

In keeping with the Vergas theme of loons, Alley’s also made necklaces and pendants using sterling silver, textured loon designs. She also sells popular items like diamond earrings, chains and pearl pendants.

Her jewelry pieces are pretty unique, too, and she does a lot of custom work. She made a pair of earrings by melting down some old scrap gold and pouring it over dried pinto beans. Another customer brought in her late mother’s sapphire wedding ring, so Alley removed the sapphire and set it on a memorial pendant with the mother’s ashes. Alley also melted down the wedding ring and hand-cut a design of the lake where the woman lived.

“I like to think outside the box and create things that are unique and not what we’ve seen at big-box stores,” Alley said. “There’s always ways to make something for someone that no one else has.”