Mia Gray King and Robin Gretchen Scott

Who:  Mia Gray King and Robin Gretchen Scott, best friends for thirty-five years, business partners and jewelry designers for three years.

What:  gretchen gray jewelry. “We’re lower-case kind of people,” Mia says.

Philosophy:  Empowerment. “While brainstorming, it came out bigger than life: empowerment. Nobody escapes life—we are all the walking wounded. How can you make it better? When you put on a pair of shoes and think, ‘Oh, boy,’ that may sound superficial, especially in light of what’s going on in the world today, but I don’t know a woman who doesn’t love jewelry and doesn’t feel special when she wears it.”

Putting It Together:  Each piece has a “recipe,” including the types of stones, cuts, origins, and sizes used. “We specialize in color and texture. We know what we like,” says King. What they like includes blue topaz, pearls, rock crystal, aquamarine, gold nuggets, and asymmetry and rough cuts.

False Starts:  “Suffice it to say, we have small-motor dexterity issues. You’d never want anything we’ve personally made,” says King, laughing. After attempting a jewelry-making class, Scott said,  “OK, Missy, we’re hiring this out!” David Valdez, based in Fargo, was their man. He “just so gets us,” Scott says.

Client List Includes:  Patti LaBelle, who gave cuff links to Jay Leno and a bracelet to Diane Sawyer and wore gretchen gray at Luther Vandross’s funeral. Tawnja Zahradka.

What’s Next:  With jewelry at the Golden Door in California and at Grethen House, Ensemble, and Alfred’s Grand Petit Magasin here, they’re looking for people to represent them elsewhere. They plan to take their brand to the Middle East.

Yin and Yang:  The duo designs together, but they differ on their approaches to business. “Robin’s steadfast. She won’t let me have the checkbook,” King says. “She asks tough questions. I’m the rainmaker. I’ll say, ‘We have to go to Beirut!’ ”

Validation:  The designers wear the jewelry with the tags still on, because women have bought necklaces—some costing as much as $1,600—right off their necks on airplanes, Scott says.