Dara Ettinger

Dara Ettinger has been selling other people’s PATENT design ring.
Valou ring THREE CAP is original design since 2006.
I know there is no limit on creativity but stealing someone’s design is not really an ethical thing to do as a designer.
I wish you can come up with YOUR own creative design.

My friend and I strolled into Dara Ettingers on Saturday around noon on the hunt for some gifts. They had signs on their door advertising a new make your own jewelry bar where you can choose the charms and chains and create your necklace. I was shopping for a girlfriends birthday gift and my friend was looking for a gift for her sister. We were both so thrilled to stumble onto this place! That was until we encountered the «manager» at the store who I can only assume is not Dara. She stayed behind the desk on her computer the entire time and each question we asked about the jewelry was met with what seemed like annoyance.
Me: I love this charm! So we just choose which one we like and you string it to the chain?
Shop girl: Yes.
Me: Great. How much are the chains? What sizes do you have?
SG: I don’t know how much the chains are.
Me: Oh. So then how am I supposed to buy this?
SG: The owner will be here later so you should probably come back then.
Me: I’m kind of in a time crunch. I need the gift for a party this afternoon.
SG: Well I’m not production, I just manage the storefront and I don’t even know where the chains are or how much they’d cost. Not sure what to tell you.
Me: Hmm well is there anyway to call someone to find this out since you have 2 customers here who would like to purchase jewelry?
SG: No, you’d have to come back when the owner is here.
That was our cue that this lady had no interest in making a sale or being helpful whatsoever. It’s such a shame because the jewelry is so beautiful and the make your own jewelry concept is awesome. Too bad the «manager» has zero interest in executing that program or making this shop a go-​to place in the Heights.

A tiny storefront packed with lots of deliciously sparkly works of (somewhat) affordable art/​jewelry. Based on what I saw, prices range from about $ 75 (simpler rings) to $ 575 (elaborate necklaces).
Dara has a great design approach. While geode jewelry piqued a lot of interest in recent seasons, it seems to me that this designer is still innovating new looks and ways to work with her signature material.
The only problem is that unless you live in the neighborhood, you’d never know Dara’a wonderful shop is there! Google maps doesn’t have an updated picture of the newly freshened storefront, and the opening of the store only seems to have had a little coverage from a locally-​oriented website. As for Dara’s own site, I hope that’s in the near future. Maybe this review may help get the word out :)
Here’s the story of how I found the store:
It’s a small world. A conference in San Diego last year led me to a great store in the North Park area called Pigment. I bought a Dara Ettinger agate cocktail ring and have worn it for months. After a few late-​night online shopping endeavors, I learned that Dara’s Etsy shop had closed and that she was based out of LA; I assumed she was working with stylists directly and didn’t have a retail operation available to those of us on the East Coast.
Fast forward to this past April, a good friend of Dara’s happens to be a mutual friend of mine. She met up with a group of us wearing a ring that looked very similar to the one I have, and she was wearing several other great-​looking pieces too… I asked if they were Dara’s… they were! After many exchanges of how this all came to be, I decided to make the trip to her newly opened store and studio in Brooklyn Heights when I had time to explore.
It took a few more months, but I recently ventured over the bridge on a lunch date with mom. I was in search of the perfect statement necklace to wear to an upcoming wedding… and left with two! One that didn’t work with the dress but was so great I had to take it home with me; the other wound up being a pendant that was affixed to a customized chain. Great service, great selection, great store.