Marcia McDonough

They say that “necessity is the mother of invention.” Marcia McDonough’s story is one of invention, inspired by motherhood, and about jewelry innovations which are now a “necessity” amongst her followers around the country. Marcia says that her ideas came to her during a late night feeding of her newborn. She made herself a “Coupler,” a “Tree of Legends necklace and a ring with removable tops, now known as the “Brilliant Bauble”.Soon people were stopping her in the streets and at parties, asking for one of her creations.

Marcia practiced as a successful financial consultant for 11 years in Japan and the United States. One client (a Seattle law firm), encouraged her to pursue the patents on many of her ideas. By 2006 she launched her jewelry business (Mack and Bancker LLC) and retired from her consulting practice. Her inventive ideas became several new patents pending, and she is pursuing a sophisticated “system and use” patent.

Each piece begins with a sketch by Marcia, which is then carved in wax. Next, it is hand cast in sterling, gold, or platinum. It is then hand soldered, sandblasted, and hand polished. The last step, to finish the piece, is for each beautiful stone to be set. Marcia writes a “storybook” about each piece before it ships.

Marcia’s goal is to keep limited production and design even more innovative, while using her success to access more unusual stones. She is nw researching alloys, which would allow her to cast in black, using diamonds and platinum as accents. Marcia studied East Asian Studies and Economics at Middlebury and received her MBA in economics from the University of Chicago, IL. She now spends her free time studying metals, casting techniques, and gemology.