Feb 2, 2010

Her niche is a jewelBy Maribeth ConwayPatriotLedger.com

A sparkling red rock encircles Amy Montminy’s finger – a replica of a wedding gift given to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis from Aristotle Onassis. Montminy snagged the ring from Filthy Rich, her jewelry shop in Boston’s North End that sells licensed replicas of famous gems.

“I wanted to do something unique, a niche,” said Montminy, of Quincy, about starting her own business.

The store is like a plush walk-in closet where a starlet from the ’50s may have dressed herself before a night on the red carpet. “Crazy” by Patsy Cline and other ’60s music plays on the radio while women passing by stop and stare into the window.

“Each day you find nose and finger marks. (The window display) leads to a lot of impulse shopping,” Montminy said.

A sunburst pin, just like one Jackie Onassis frequently wore, sits in the window alongside a photo of the style icon wearing the brooch. A short history posted in the window offers a little dirt on the pin: Onassis spotted a sunburst pin in a London antique shop but the pin cost $50,000, so she secretly sold pins given to her by her former in-laws, Rose and Joe Kennedy, to afford the sunburst pin. To avoid offending Rose and Joe Kennedy, she ordered costume copies made of the pins she had sold.

“Customers love those stories. They love the way the jewelry looks, but they really love those stories,” Montminy said.

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