Nicole and Liz met in 2006 while doing volunteer work (in addition to their day jobs) with endangered sea turtles on St. Croix, they bonded instantly due to many similarities and shared interests. The two collaborated from time to time over the years on jewelry projects and each stepped in to help the other when needed. Nicole will be carrying on the FantaSea vision, keeping the business alive and growing, and continuing to produce inspired and meaningful Caribbean jewelry.
Nicole is the owner of FantaSea Jewelry, joining FantaSea in 2014 and has helped to take FantaSea to the next level. Having run her own retail fine jewelry store for 7 years on St. Croix, she holds many G.I.A. (Gemological Institute of America) certifications including the Applied Jewelry Professional (A.J.P.) certificate, Graduate Diamonds and Graduate Colored Stones diplomas, and is a skilled jeweler who has been making and selling fine jewelry for over 17 years. Nicole works primarily in diamonds, genuine gemstones and precious metals such as gold, silver and palladium and has an affinity for unique colored gemstones and gemstone cabochons.
Liz was born and raised in Chicago, IL. She began her education in the field of psychology, then changed her major to art, eventually obtaining a BA in art with a concentration in fashion design. After serving a 10 year “career sentence” in the fashion industry in Chicago and then NYC, Liz fell in love with the islands during a vacation, and just had to move here with her fiance at the time, Brad. After 4 months on the island, Liz and Brad decided this would be their permanent residence and got married, bought a condo and never looked back.
Liz passed away in February of 2016 after a long battle with a rare auto-immune disease called MCTD (Mixed Connective Tissue Disease). She lived on St. Croix for over ten years. During that time she found her passion in creating beautiful jewelry and founded FantaSea Jewelry, inspired by the ocean, sea life and endangered sea turtles in particular. Liz worked in sea turtle conservation efforts as well as donating her jewelry to causes such as ocean conservation, the American Cancer Society and local animal rescue and welfare organizations. She was also a strong advocate for autoimmune disease awareness and went before the legislature on St. Croix to speak on the need for better health care for individuals living with autoimmune diseases in the Virgin Islands.
Liz’s passion, work and legacy as a jeweler will live on through FantaSea Jewelry and we will be producing some more of Liz’s works that were in progress, over the coming months and continue her established design collections.
