Some businesses are built on a business plan. Ours was built on a workbench.

J.H. Breakell & Co. was founded in Newport, Rhode Island by silversmith Jim Breakell, whose career in the craft began with an apprenticeship restoring antique silver pieces — some of them made by Newport's own smiths centuries earlier. He learned new techniques by trial and error, mastering one skill before moving to the next, until he was confident enough to create his own designs. In 1972, he opened his first shop and began making one-of-a-kind pieces.

Joan Breakell joined the company when she married Jim in 1980, bringing her own creative vision to the work — personally guiding each design from initial sketch to 3D wax model to finished piece. Together, they built something quietly remarkable: a small American silversmithing company rooted in centuries-old technique, inspired entirely by the nature and maritime heritage surrounding them in Newport.

A Brand That Grew Organically

In the mid-1980s, Jim and Joan began placing ads in publications like *The New Yorker*, *Yankee*, and *Smithsonian Magazine*. The response was immediate — for one bracelet alone, they received thousands of dollars in orders in a single month. Their first jewelry catalog was photographed on their kitchen table. From there, Breakell grew into a beloved national brand while keeping every piece handcrafted in Rhode Island.

A Breakell piece was even memorialized in a *New Yorker* cartoon. Their jewelry has been worn by Rhode Island's governors at ceremonial occasions. And one small, playful pin would go on to write the most unexpected chapter in the company's history.

The Broccoli Pin & the National Archives

When President George H.W. Bush famously banned broccoli from the White House, Jim Breakell did what any self-respecting silversmith would do: he made a broccoli pin and sent it to First Lady Barbara Bush. She loved it. That pin — handcrafted in sterling silver in a Newport workshop — now resides permanently in the National Archives as part of the collection of gifts given to presidents. It's perhaps the most distinctly Breakell story there is: whimsical, beautifully made, and rooted in a genuine love of craft.

A Relationship with the Smithsonian

The Breakell connection to the Smithsonian runs deeper than most people know. It began with those early ads in *Smithsonian Magazine*, which introduced the brand to a national audience of curious, design-minded readers. It continued when the Smithsonian Institution itself approached the current owners, David and Susan Medeiros, about featuring Breakell jewelry in the Smithsonian Store catalog — an honor David describes as recognition from one of the most prestigious institutions in the country. Today, Breakell's handcrafted sterling silver work is available through the Smithsonian Store, carried alongside artifacts and objects that represent the very best of American art, history, and craft.

For a company built on centuries-old silversmithing techniques in a small Rhode Island workshop, that's not a bad place to end up.

Passing the Torch

After four decades, Jim and Joan passed the company to new stewards committed to honoring everything they built. David and Susan Medeiros — who had long been part of Newport's jewelry-making community — continue the same handcrafting traditions: the same techniques, the same Rhode Island workshop, the same maker's mark stamped into every piece as a guarantee of quality.

"The pieces are timeless," David has said. That's always been the goal.

More Than Jewelry

From the beginning, Breakell has believed that a piece of jewelry carries meaning beyond its materials. It marks moments. It connects people. It gets passed down. Whether it's the annual Snowflake a family member has given every year since 1994, or a sea-life pendant someone picks up on a visit to Newport and wears for the next twenty years, these pieces become part of people's stories.

That's why we still do what we do.

*Visit us at 215 Goddard Row in Newport's historic Brick Market, or shop the full collection at Breakell.