Today our guest is Alla Druker of local family business Drukker Designs, LLC.

Alla, summer is coming soon, which means a wonderful mood, beach, love and desire ... It makes me want romantic and passionate jewelry - bright, bold, unusual. What advice do you have for our readers?

- We offer over 2,000 unique models of earrings, rings and pendants made with gold and silver with semiprecious stones. Our Jewelry, created by designer Elena Drukker has been sold, appreciated, and loved in Russia, Ukraine, Estonia, Czech Republic and other countries in Eastern Europe for many years, and now, we’re bringing it to America.

The unique design of each piece is mesmerizing. Designer jewelry crafted with precision - is it all handmade?

- Definitely, throughout the whole production cycle. Many of our jewelry models are rather complex, and sometimes their production consists of many stages, so that computer assisted design or 3-D printing would not work for us. As it is being crafted, each item passes through the hands of many talented jewelry makers who are skilled in the modern technologies that we use: the latest casting machines, electrolytic devices, and laser welding.

How is this gorgeous jewelry created? How does the process work?

- Elena comes up with the design, then she and the artist she works with create a sketch. Then the specialist makes the rubber model based on the sketch, which is then used to cast the jewelry. Next the gemstones are mounted, enamel applied, the jewelry is polished, silver jewelry is plated with palladium and rhodium, or gold. Jewelry can be made in silver of different color and carat gold, with different color, cut, or different combinations of gemstones . Based on each of the more than 2,000 existing models, many different jewelry items can thus be made, including custom ordering the exact piece, with the exact metals and gemstones you wish.

The manufacturing facilities are in Belaya Tserkov’ (the White Church) in Ukraine, and in Moscow?

- Yes, in Ukraine and Russia.

What are your interests in everyday life?

- We love our cats - all 6 of them, as well as our dog. We are also interested in photography, some of us - professionally: Leo works as a wedding photographer (www.leodruker.com - correctly, with one "k" ...), and he has taken photos of all jewelry pieces on our website.

How did you decide to sell products in the United States from Russia and Ukraine?

- It all started with an interest in keeping in touch with our relatives and compiling a family tree.. In 2011, armed with a laptop, a scanner ( for family photos ) and the program myheritage.com, Alla, Paul and Leo Druker ( mom, dad and son) went to Russia. Among the relatives who we hadn’t seen for a long, or for a really long time, was Elena - the jewelry designer. We visited the manufacturing facility and shop, purchased a dozen amazing new jewelry pieces ( for Alla ), and decided that such jewelry is needed not only in Russia and in Europe in general - it absolutely is needed at home in the U.S.! As soon as we got home from vacation with our Russian relatives, we got to work on this idea, and in the fall of the same year a new company was born, "Drukker Designs, LLC". Named after the grandmother of our designer, Elena Drukker, whose name was misspelled with two "k" - now we will always happily explain our quirky history. That’s how a trip to strengthen family ties led to the creation of a new family business, and the jewelry line we fell in love with is now available to everyone in the United States.

What do your customers admire in your jewelry?

- We offer jewelry that is both familiar and classic, as well as having unusual, asymmetrical and unexpected designs. We produce jewelry individually, in small batches, and given the variety of options, our customers almost always receive a unique product. Our 2,000+ models is not a limit, as new models and collections are added regularly. Most of our earrings are made with leverback clasps - familiar to us from our life in Russia, and extremely reliable; while some earrings are created with simple posts for those who do not like leverback clasps. Almost any earrings can be made with either clasp design.

Where in America is your company and where can we buy your jewelry?

- We live in the greater Washington area, and online at www.drukker.com, where you can browse and purchase all of our jewelry, we also sell our products at different trade shows - our website always has accurate and timely information about upcoming exhibitions or other events in which we participate.

The easiest to reach us for residents of the area would be in Chantilly, VA, at the International Gem and Jewelry show at Dulles Expo Center. We exhibit there four times a year.

Send us an e-mail to info@drukkerdesigns.com your mailing address, and we will gladly send you a free pass for this show.