We are excited to be sharing with you our dear friends company, 212 West, with you on the blog today! This company started out as a vision of a young girl who was looking for a way to express herself through accessories, and it has turned into something truly incredible! These necklaces allow people to share their hopes, dreams, and inspirations daily. Not only do we love the unique and trendy style of these necklaces, but we love that they also serve a purpose. Each time a 212 west necklace that includes the words America, Troops or Veterans is purchased, $5 will be donated to Operation Freedom, a program of Freedom Service Dogs of America.
Pat and Claire are devoted to finding a stylish way for people to share a part of themselves and their journey. As your life moves from one adventure to another, 212 West is a style that moves with you....The Spoken Life.
From the beginning...
My daughter, Claire, has always been ambitious about wanting to own her own business. Since she was little she would come up with ideas such as starting dog walking company or becoming the neighborhood photographer. When she was 13, Claire, came to my husband and I about an idea for a necklace. She wanted to design something that allowed people to speak for themselves or share a piece of who they are. After spending months working on a prototype we found a manufacture who was able to produce it. The experience Claire has had at this age to work on product and website design and now marketing of the business has been valuable learning experience that will hopefully be helpful to her in the "real world" when she is older.
Claire's Inspiration behind creating 212 West....
Hi, my is Claire Lancaster. I’m 15 years old and a freshman in high school. I’m here today to talk about an idea I had a few years back that was made into a reality by my wonderful
Mom. Let me start out by talking about why this is so important to me. In elementary school, we had uniforms. Even at the young age of 8, I never liked being dressed the same as everyone else. Like clones, we all wore the same navy blue collared shirts, plaid skirts, and white sweaters. Nothing about that getup told the world anything about who I was as a person or what I loved to do. I haven’t spent my days at school in plaid skirts for a while, but I’ve still struggled with finding style that relates closely to my life experience. Instead of clothes, I turned to jewelry. Sure, charm bracelets were an option, but tiny dangling figures from a chain around my wrist still did not suit me. That’s when I decided to reinvent the charm bracelet into a classy necklace that gives you the ability to speak for yourself, without even opening your mouth.
These necklaces let you speak for what is important to you. Perhaps you’re a cancer survivor. Your courage deserves to be shared with the world around you. Maybe you love to run, and you’re proud to have finished 26.2 miles of accomplishment. Perhaps a loved one is fighting in the army and you want to show your support for their sacrifice to America, or maybe you just want a simple mantra that’s close to your heart to physically lay next to your heart to give you the motivation to make it through a hard day. You live your life, and we’ll be right here, engraving your journey and experiences into something beautiful. This is more than jewelry, this a a style that moves with your life. #thespokenlife
~ Pat and Claire Lancaster,
212 West
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