Formia Design

Specialties

Mia van Beek, along with her small, dedicated team, creates handmade custom jewelry in her Charlottesville studio. Located on East Market Street, we are a full service jewelry studio offering expert repair of heirloom pieces, as well as jewelry design and redesign. We also have contemporary jewelry ready to purchase! Formia Design is known worldwide for our concept of using your own child’s artwork to create a wide range of handmade jewelry. Customers can email a photo of their favorite drawing and we will carefully replicate it in precious metals.

History

Established in 2004.

Creating and designing has always been a huge part of Mia’s life. Owning her own jewelry business specializing in designing custom jewelry has allowed for Mia to been able to fulfill her passion for creativity. Trained by the most respected masters in Sweden, Mia’s technical knowledge is vast and her modern design aesthetic is sure to please any client interested in updated and current trends in jewelry.

The idea of using children’s drawings to make jewelry was born in 2008 when Mia was trying to think of a gift for her daughter’s preschool teacher. Being a goldsmith, making a piece of jewelry was an obvious choice for Mia, but she also wanted the gift to involve her daughter. She asked her 3-​year-​old to sit down and draw a nice picture that Mommy could make into earrings for the teacher. Mia took the pencil scribbles and transformed them into silver earrings. Reaction at the preschool showed Mia this could be a great business opportunity. 1000s of orders prove she was right!

Meet the Business Owner

Mia V.

Business Owner

A Master Goldsmith from in Sweden, Mia stays true to the classic, traditional techniques she was trained in. She has found a style that is clean, simple and contemporary, reflecting her Scandinavian heritage, yet bold and eye-​catching. Her pieces are one-​of-​a-​kind and hand fabricated, using silver, gold, platinum, pearls and genuine gemstones. Mia always keeps in mind the expression «less is more»; she focuses on bringing out a single shape in an already created and designed world.

1988 – 1991 Jewelry School in Sweden, Dackeskolan in Mjolby

1992 Journeyman Diploma

1996 Goldsmith Master’s Degree

1997 Degree in Design at College of Arts in Linkoping

2001 Set up my own business Formia Design in Stockholm, Sweden

2004 Received Best New Designer of the Year at Stockholm Jewelry Show

2004 Established Formia Design LLC in Virginia, USA