I t’s not every day that a Kenosha jeweler receives an atta-girl letter from the governor, but Erica Sanchez-Hawkins did just that recently.

Last month Gov. Jim Doyle sent Sanchez-Hawkins a letter to congratulate her for achieving the certified gemologist appraiser title from the American Gem Society.

This is the highest level of achievement in the jewelry business that is awarded by the Society, which is a trade association of retail jewelers, independent appraisers, suppliers and select industry members. Founded in 1934 and based in Las Vegas, it emphasizes consumer protection and education.

Sanchez-Hawkins is one of only 410 jewelers in the United States and Canada to achieve this level of certification. Of those 410, only six are in Wisconsin. Earning the title requires successful completion of advanced training and comprehensive appraisal examinations.

For Sanchez-Hawkins, the goal is not only the result of a lot of hard work but the realization of a dream. But earning the title doesn’t signal the end of her education. Maintaining the title requires annual re-certification, so Sanchez-Hawkins plans to stay at the top of her game.

“This keeps me abreast of all the changes in the (jewelry) industry, whether they be in repair, in design, in fashion. The education is really never-ending,” said Sanchez-Hawkins, owner of Erica’s Fine Jewelry, with stores at 4625 75th St. in Kenosha and at 11211 120th Ave. in Pleasant Prairie’s Prime Outlets.

According to Diane Flora, director of education for the American Gem Society, the certified gemologist appraiser title is one of the most respected in the industry.

“It’s the highest certification we award our members,” she said.

The art of jewelry

Growing up in Kenosha and attending local schools, Sanchez-Hawkins initially intended to follow a career in education. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English with a concentration in literary criticism from the University of Wisconsin-Parkside in 1996. But the jewelry business stirred a passion in her, too, and she trained under an Old World German master goldsmith in Round Lake Beach, Ill., sweeping floors, sizing rings, fixing jewelry and learning techniques that would serve as a foundation for her own career as a goldsmith. One of the many lessons she picked up from him is the importance of mastering jewelry repair in addition to designing custom jewelry. When the economy is struggling, he told her, people might not be able to afford custom pieces but they’ll always need jewelry repairs.

Still, it’s designing that inspires her. She finds great joy in creating one-of-a-kind pieces, knowing they are as unique as the customers who buy them. And nothing pleases her more than working with a customer who wants to participate with that creative process.

“Then the (piece of jewelry) becomes not only an individual expression of art but a part of them,” said Sanchez-Hawkins, who firmly believes that jewelry is art just as sculptures and paintings are.

Rock hounding

As a youngster, she always was collecting the rocks that caught her eye. At home walking along the beach at Lake Michigan, on vacation in Wisconsin Dells, she’d be drawn to a color, a shape, a pattern, and suddenly the stone no longer was one of many, it was special because it was hers. She felt an affinity toward what she found and cherished. “Rocks are timeless,” she said. “They were here a long time before we were and they’ll be around long after we’re gone.”

A wife (her husband, Steve Hawkins, is general manager at both her stores), and mother to 7-year-old Anjelica, Sanchez-Hawkins has 11 employees at her two locations. Being a business owner and a certified gemologist appraiser is a long way from being a young rock hound. But Sanchez-Hawkins wouldn’t have it any other way. And she encourages others, especially young women, who are interested in the jewelry industry to follow their passion as well. So many women in the retail end of the jewelry business don’t take it beyond sales. But designing, repairing, appraising, these all are possible with education and stick-to-itiveness, she said.

“In this business, you really can be anything you want to be,” she said.