Handmade gemstone jewelry in Wooster
Like the name of her shop suggests, the owner of MacKenzie’s Silver Lining likes to look on the bright side. That optimism and glass-half-full attitude, along with a sign on her door that says “Kindness matters,” inspire her to create meaningful jewelry and custom pieces that make the people wearing them feel special.
“The jewelry is very personal and symbolic, and I’m always trying to lift people up,” says owner MacKenzie Haiss. “My mission is to spread charm and positivity.”
She has been making one-of-a-kind jewelry for over 40 years and sells a variety of her handmade necklaces, bracelets, rings and earrings at her Wooster store, as well as custom pieces.
A daughter of a ceramics professor, she loves the creative procecss and seeing a piece of jewelry come to life from start to finish.
“I was around the arts ever since I could walk,” she says. “Jewelry making was just an extension of my art.”
Before opening her business, Haiss graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University with a bachelor’s in fine arts in painting, ceramics and metalsmithing and worked at a shop in Columbus making functional jewelry. Then Haiss decided to go the entrepreneurial route, opening MacKenzie’s Silver Lining in 1983.
In her store, Haiss sells a variety of the jewelry she makes, including her most popular item that people buy nearly every Wednesday through Saturday, when the store is open — her dangle earrings. The lion’s paw jasper gemstone earring set ($55) features a beautiful jasper cabochon gemstone, which has a flat back and half-rounded top, and an orange and brown mix. They are made in an intricate process that involves selecting the perfect stone, wrapping wire and buffing the jewelry to take it from sanded to a mirrored finish.
Rings are also top sellers, and her most popular style is a bezel-set gemstone ring (silver $50-$100, white gold $400-$500). The ring is secured with a bezel wall of protection around the stone and comes in many colors and types of gemstones.
“I do a lot of wire work, so there might be two or three strips of wire coming up and weaving and curling around the ring,” Haiss says.
For necklaces, she says her wire work is sought after and bezel-set turquoise necklaces are a popular request.
“Having just a stone is pretty plain, so I’ll put wire around it, or add beads all around,” she says, adding that she buys much of her supplies from V-Rock Shop in North Canton. “I do all sorts of things to make them beautiful.”
The majority of what she sells is her original work, but some pieces are handpicked from trade shows, and those are all one-of-a-kind stones. But Haiss prefers making jewelry, especially custom pieces that are special to families, such as some made from old wedding rings.
“I’ve told people to bring in relatives’ rings they’ve inherited, and I’ve made beautiful conglomerate rings,” Haiss says. “I enjoy talking to the customer and hearing the memory of the jewelry piece. … What I do means a lot to them.”
147 E. Liberty St., Wooster, mackenziessilverlining.com