I recently met someone in my new showroom who commented on the name of the business with a question: “Marika… Gems?”
“I’m Marika,” I replied.
This response didn’t seem to clarify anything for him. After a moment he asked, “are you the owner?”
(It would be such a charming coincidence if I wasn’t!)
I tend to get one of two reactions to my name when I’m introduced to people.
“I’ve never met a Marika before!” or “I know someone else with that name!”
Personally, I’ve known a lot of Marikas, Merikas, Marijkes, and Marikes, and a few Marikos. Perhaps a Law of Attraction type of thing.
So why Marika Gems? I can’t seem to get away from naming businesses after myself. Prior to this endeavor, I was a working silversmith for around a decade, designing and fabricating a production line of brass, silver and gold jewelry that was sold in boutiques and online. It was called Ay Marieke, taken from the lyrics of a song that inspired the name I was given.
In 2020, while stuck at home during the early days of the pandemic, I wanted a project to absorb my attention that could also amuse and edify my friends. I decided to create an Instagram account where I would discuss and share stories about jewelry and gemology. I wanted an easy name that would make people laugh; it seemed like a time where laughter was terribly hard to muster.
Without putting too much effort into it, the name Marika Gems came to me. I’m Marika, these are Gems. I didn’t bother to think of an option B or option C.
The name did what I meant for it to do: every close friend to whom I related the name immediately laughed. Then I laughed.
A year later, I began selling vintage and antique jewelry and needed to choose a business name. It was still the pandemic, of course, so most of this was happening online, and Instagram was a main avenue for promoting and marketing my new business. It seemed easy enough to continue with the name. After all, still Marika… these are still Gems.
Occasionally, someone mishears or mis-writes the name as Marika’s Gems. An easy enough mistake, but I don’t favor the possessive for a reason. These are only my gems temporarily… they’re meant to go on to new homes and lifetimes as someone else’s. I don’t claim them, I only take care of them for a little while until they go where they’re meant to be.