Every year I look forward to being a part of the Dress for Success “Stepping Out in Style” fundraiser. This year, the event was held on Friday evening, September 14th at the gorgeous JW Marriott on 10 S. West Street.
I appreciate Dress for Success because it provides an immediate benefit for under served Indianapolis-area women entering the job market by providing professional attire including well-fitting suits, shoes, jewelry and handbags. DFS also promotes the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing a network of support and the career development tools to help these women thrive at work and in life. It’s a cause near and dear to my heart.
As I have for each of the last eight years, Aronstam supported Stepping Out in Style with over $35,000 in jewelry items waiting to be “discovered” under mounds of white sand. The Aronstam “Diamond Dig” is a hugely popular part of the evening, and I was honored to donate the jewelry to raise needed yearly funds. Almost everyone in attendance paid $10 for a chance to ‘dig in’ to uncover one of my 75 donated jewelry items.
Of course, the opportunity to win the grand prize was pretty amazing, too. Especially custom-designed for DFS, this year’s piece is a Tahitian pearl necklace with a custom interchangeable pendant designed in 14k white gold, 18k yellow gold and sterling silver with diamonds on a strand of multicolored circle’ Tahitian pearls. The pendant is a relief impression in sterling silver taken from a seal over 2500 years old from my ancient artifact collection.
Valued at over $9,000, a very lucky Dress for Success supporter walked away with this one-of-a-kind gorgeous Aronstam-designed piece.
One of the most intriguing aspects of this necklace is that it is interchangeable, allowing the pendant to be removed and another piece worn on the pearls. The necklace can also be worn without the pendant.
We had the best fundraising year we’ve ever had through a crowd of over 1,000 generous supporters. Very fitting for the 10th anniversary of this event that literally keeps the Dress for Success doors open. I couldn’t be any happier – or more proud.
Tags: Aronstam Fine Jewelers, career development tools, DFS, disadvantaged women, fine jewelers, friday evening, gold, indianapolis area, jewelry, pearls, sterling silver, tahitian pearl necklace, tahitian pearls, white sand, yellow gold