Many teenagers can’t stand to be in the same room with their parents — let alone work with them. That’s not true for Boxford’s Lexi and Taylor Lombara. The siblings — two-thirds of a set of triplets — run a jewelry company, Colby Davis of Boston, with their mother, Lia Lombara.
They sell keepsake chains, pendants, necklaces, and other glass enamel and sterling silver baubles engraved with meaningful sayings. Their St. Christopher pendant collection says, “Safe travel, safe return”; an angel collection says, “Someone to watch over me.” There are also stackable rings, earrings, and bracelets with nautical motifs. Next month, they’ll host trunk shows at various J. Crew stores along the East Coast.
“We come up with designs first, then come up with the sayings. What sounds good? What do people connect to? We want to make pieces that are meaningful, not just a fad,” Lexi says.
Lia, who studied sculpture and jewelry-making at Boston College and at the Museum of Fine Arts, helmed a jewelry line before having children. Later, she ran a Newburyport boutique with her mother, Windsor & Davis Homestyles. She went into business with her daughters in 2014, and she says that having teenagers honed her design sensibilities.
“[We want to] attract a nine-year-old and a 90-year-old, not just millennials. Taylor and Lexi might say, ‘That’s more for a mom’ or ‘More for college kids,’ ” Lia says.
Lexi says their Back Bay collection, with chunky sterling silver pieces, appeals to an older set. Glass enamel pendants and bar necklaces layer well and attract younger buyers.
Lexi attends Boston College, and Taylor is at the University of South Carolina. (A triplet brother isn’t involved in the business.) The girls handle marketing and photography; their mother oversees design.
“We probably talk three times a day,” says Lexi. While in high school, they worked mornings, nights, and weekends, selling their wares at trade shows and at nautical events.
Advertisement
And, yes, they plan to continue the business after graduation.
“It’s empowering. It’s cool to say that this is a mother-daughter team. Being all women, we’re proud of that, and we try to support other women-based organizations, too,” Taylor says.
Lia, too, is bullish on the business, particularly with triplets in college.
“We’ll have to sell a lot of jewelry,” she says with a laugh.
Kara Baskin can be reached at kara.baskin@globe.com.