Now is the time to start thinking of holiday gifts, and if you’re hoping to support a local, woman-owned business in the process, look no further than the new venture from Alexandra Mayr-Gracik and Miriam Mayr of Sabika Jewelry, a direct-sales brand based in Robinson.
The first collection from ALMI — the name is a combination of "Alex" and "Miriam" — features 18k gold-plated pieces, silver pieces, baroque pearl elements, and several convertible necklaces. Alternatively, the brand name can be read as “all me," or, as a press release puts it, “a reflection of the design ethos for those who wear it to make each piece of jewelry their own and express their true selves.”
With the onset of the global pandemic, plans to debut the new brand were set aside, until now. The video launch for ALMI debuted on Oct. 27 on the Sabika Jewelry social media accounts and on YouTube
ALMI Jewelry is not just an extension of Sabika, a 20-year old brand. It is its own creative endeavor that draws on the personal experiences of the Mayr sisters supporting each other.
Sabika was founded in 2001 by Karin Mayr, the mother of the two sisters, and has expanded into a multimillion-dollar brand across all 50 states, plus Puerto Rico.
“Sabika has extremely loyal customers, and I love designing jewelry for them every day. Then there are also those that come and go looking for fresh designs and I want to include and create something for those women as well,” says Mayr-Gracik, ALMI's head designer and CEO, in a press release. “Instinctively, while I was creating our current seasonal Sabika Collection, I started designing other pieces I thought would speak not only to the women looking for different styles, but also were inspired by the conversation Miriam and I had two years ago.”
That conversation happened during a short retreat when the sisters were strategizing and reflecting on the future of Sabika.
“Miriam and I are very different, as all sisters are," explains Mayr-Gracik, "however we balance each other out and push one another to create every day. ALMI Jewelry is a reflection of that, and we hope when women put it on they admire their own female relationships — how these connections make us stronger and even more ourselves."
She adds that ALMI is inspired "by the connections between women. From mother to daughter, sister to sister, friend to friend. There is a unity in uniqueness.”
The venture will also keep Sabika's focus on philanthropy. In October, the company continued a partnership with the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, selling a specially-made Pink Power Collection in a bid to raise $45,000 for the cause. Sabika claims that, since 2010, it has raised over $2.2 million for various foundations and nonprofits in support of the fight against breast cancer.
Fittingly, each ALMI piece comes with the option to “choose your impact,” and have a percentage of each purchase go to Girls Inc, Earth Day Network, or Mental Health America.
The full collection is now available for purchase on Sabika Jewelry’s website.
Major Pittsburgh-area jewelry brand debuts new ALMI Collection
