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If you've shopped at Fox's anytime over the last 27 years, then you've no doubt met or had the pleasure of working with our beloved Mariko Winters. Her smiling face and calm disposition have been a constant at Fox's since 1989. Mariko is planning to retire on her birthday next August, which will make this Mariko's last holiday season with us. We asked Mariko a few questions that we thought you'd enjoy about her time here - let's take a little trip down memory lane!

When did you start working here and why jewelry?- May 1^st 1989. My friend at church was Zach Mann’s kindergarten teacher and knew that Chai was looking for someone who spoke Japanese.

What do you remember about your interview?- Chai asked if I could write really small. Because back then we hand wrote all the tags for each piece of jewelry.

What was the first piece you ever sold?- A Tiffany & Co. Pin for $3,000.00

What is one thing you loved about that time?- I loved selling Tiffany silver. Buses of tourist would come in and we would line up all the receipts on the case and go down the line.

What is your favorite thing about your career?- Custom. I love building a piece from scratch. One of my favorite pieces I ever made for a client was a jade men’s ring with the most beautiful piece of orange jade.

What is one of the craziest things that happened at work?- The earthquake in 2001. I was on the phone with a client and all of a sudden the huge Chihuly sculpture we had hanging from the ceiling started to sway and I said “I have to go I think we are having an earthquake”.

What is the strangest request you ever received?- Diamonds set into someone’s teeth!

Who is the most famous person you ever helped?- Michael Douglas and Grand Master Flash.

What is one of your favorite memories?- Going to Japan with Chai and Joy to meet a client. After that I took them on a tour of my hometown Nagoya. It was amazing!

What will you miss most about Fox’s?- My colleagues and Sushi Day!!

What will you do in your retirement?- I am going to see the total eclipse in August in Wyoming. I will travel the country with my husband Dan and our doggies in our RV. My favorite places are the Mayan Ruins and Utah I plan to go back. We love to mushroom hunt and dig for razor clams. And spend time with my grandchildren.

Did you know that you can design your own engagement ring at The Design Studio at Fox's Seattle?

First, get inspired by any of our beautiful in person designs, or search the full digital library of designs to narrow down your starting point options.

Fox's Design Studio allows you to create the perfect piece by changing center stones, accent stones, metal qualities, shanks, prongs, and much more right on-screen in full 3D.

When you want to add details or build completely new designs, Freehand, available inside Fox's Design Studio, gives you the tools to get creative using a library of over 1,000 adjustable design elements.

Within the software, we can price diamonds and settings, and even order a 3D prototype for you to try on. Designing a one-of-a-kind engagement ring has never been so seamless!

"Lots of people claim to be innovators but Todd Reed is the real deal. His pioneering work with rough diamonds in the 1990s laid the foundation for an entirely new approach to diamonds that's been copied, mimicked, and reinterpreted by scores of jewelers. Among those in the know, however, it's clear that Todd came first."

- Victoria Gomelsky, Editor-in-Chief, JCK Magazine

 "Todd is one of a special breed of designers who can take what's classic - precious metals and gems - and create something that's totally modern. He's captured the essence of what modern luxury is: an object that holds high value without being too precious; an object one treasures but isn't afraid to wear every day. Todd is also one of those designers who, despite his success, remains approachable and down-to-earth.

-Hedda Schupak, Editor, Centurion Jewelry

When we first saw Todd Reed's jewelry at the annual Couture show in Las Vegas a few years back, we were instantly captivated. That year we brought home a rough gray diamond that looked like Mount Rainier, rising above a cloud of small white brilliant diamonds set in a palladium coin-edge halo. Our clients had never seen anything like this one-of-a-kind piece, and neither had we.

Todd is a man of many talents, which were fostered by growing up with an artist mother who immersed him in drawing, painting, and other artistic mediums from a yound age. At 10 years old a light went off in his head on a vacation to Arizona, where he watched as a sheet of silver was turned into a piece of jewelry in front of his eyes. By age 19 he had graduated from culinary school, and was working as a leathersmith when he met and was taken under the wing of a diamond collector. Todd fell in love with rough diamonds, and began designing jewelry around the organic shapes of these unique gemstones.

In 1992 he started Todd Reed Jewelry with an aesthetic and committment to ethically sourced diamonds and recycled metals that was years ahead of its time. You can see glimpses into Todd's past as a leathersmith when you see his signature finish work, which can make a sterling silver cuff look as soft as a piece of leather. By the nature of the diamonds he uses, no Todd Reed piece will ever be the same as another. And who doesn't love to own something that no one else has?

That is why we are so thrilled to be opening the Todd Reed Boutique at Fox's Seattle. Our entire back wall will be dedicated exclusively to Todd Reed jewelry. We hope you will join us for the grand opening and Todd Reed trunk show on Friday, August 12th and Saturday, August 13th. We have collaborated with Todd on several one-of-a-kind pieces just for Fox's Seattle, and during the trunk show his entire collection will be available for you to try on. You won't want to miss it!

We had the pleasure of having one of our newest designers, Ray Griffiths, in the store for a trunk show last week. Ray is charming, talented, and has an Australian accent, which makes him pretty irresistible!

He also has a very interesting backstory. Ray is the son of a shoemaker and grew up making shoes. As a teenager he grew interested in making jewelry and became an apprentice at an old jewelry restoration house in Melbourne. As Ray puts it, "I started filing and hammering and turned out to be good at it!"

After that he ran away from Australia and saw the world for 4 years, seeing many of the places and buildings that would later become inspirations for his jewelry - Greco-Roman ruins, Gaudi cathedrals in Barcelona, and Moorish architecture in Spain - before returning to Sydney and becoming a partner at a jewelry business for 18 years. He then packed his entire life - including all of his gold, gemstones, and jewelry making equipment - into a shipping container and moved to New York to seek his fortune, only to arrive to find that the shipping container had been stolen. He had nothing but the 2 suitcases of clothing he carried onto the plane. He worked at a clothing store until a generous friend gifted him her jewelry making equipment and he was back in business!

He spent the next 10 years making and selling jewelry at the late, great Fragments in NYC before launching his own label, which is when we found him. If you love architecture, antiques, gorgeous gemstones, and 1920's flapper necklaces, you will love Ray's jewelry. We hope you will stop by and take a look!