Louisiana collector Gretchen Pettis took a beat in life and realized the importance of heirloom jewelry.
Story by Mary Dansak
Stacks of bangles, chains and fobs, crosses, lockets, and bits of wisdom splash across Interlude Antique’s Instagram page. Gretchen Pettis, curator of treasures and master storyteller, enthusiastically embraces this modern method of connecting customers and followers to her timeless jewelry.
Scrolling the photographs of gold bracelets draped over a piece of ocean coral, hanging on the prickly needles of an evergreen, even nestled in a bowl of black-eyed peas, a sense of playfulness and joyful passion permeates this online space.
“I probably spend too much time on my phone,” Gretchen laughs. “I wake up and am immediately inspired. I reach for my phone and write.”
Much of Gretchen’s inspiration comes from story, her own and that of her antique jewelry.
Gretchen’s life is one of many chapters bound together by her abiding faith with a golden thread of a hobby-turned-business running through it. Her career began in the corporate world of New York. Amidst the high pressure demands of her work, she enjoyed antiquing and treasure hunting, purchasing items bit by bit for her own collection.
With the birth of her daughter, Gretchen changed course, choosing to return to her home in Monroe, Louisiana. Her twin sons were born not long thereafter. Gretchen celebrated her 40th birthday as the mother of three children under the age of four. Even in her ever-busy role of motherhood and her return to the corporate world when her children entered school, her antiquing hobby continued to flourish. Gretchen found herself helping friends select their own pieces and occasionally working in antique stores.
While nourishing her passion for antiquing, Gretchen was amassing a wealth of knowledge as well as a sizable collection.
On a trip to Maine in 2019, a friend encouraged her. “You can do something with this antique hobby,” she says. “Someone saw my potential, just like I see the potential in an old piece of jewelry. Sometimes it takes someone else to see what we can’t see in ourselves.”
Her children were now entering high school. With encouragement from her friend, Gretchen pivoted once again. Interlude Antiques, named for the pause between pieces in music, was born.
“All the jewelry had a story before it found its way to me,” Gretchen explains. “I’m the interlude. I love shepherding it to its next chapter, to the person who’s going to love it and give it a new story.”
Gretchen’s mission was redefined. As a writer and a lover of beauty, seasoned with a deep sense of faith, she found a home for promoting her business on Instagram. She posted photographs of her pieces, taken around her own house and in her garden, and enhanced them with stories and relevant passages of scripture. Her business, and her inventory, grew.
“We had to move my bracelets and watch chains off the table every night to eat dinner,” she says. “My piano students found the top of the piano covered in bracelets at their lessons.”
When a friend offered her a large closet in her store to house her pieces, Gretchen pounced. She painted this new space Robin’s Egg Blue and cleared out her jewelry box of a house. Her business, including pop-ups, expanded and the serious curation began. As her children grew more independent, Gretchen had time to travel, searching for and selling antique jewelry.
“I didn’t know what I was doing at first,” she confesses. “To be honest, I don’t think any of us do. Some of our biggest blessings come in spite of, not because of, us. Following our hearts leads us to places we could once only dream of.”
Interlude Antiques survived the Covid lock-downs with Porch Pop-Ups. “A friend called one day. She said, ‘I can’t get my hair done. I can’t get my nails done. I need to buy myself something pretty.’”
Through socially distanced appointments on the hour every hour, Gretchen filled her days with customers eager to shake off the angst of pandemic with the purchase of a piece of antique jewelry, something that had experienced untold upsets and upheavals of its own and survived solid, intact, and beautiful.
Covid restrictions passed, but with the threat of Empty Nest Syndrome, Gretchen found herself once again at a pivot point.
“I knew I’d either take to my bed and wallow in self-pity, or get up and hit the road,” she says.
In her former life as a representative for a global bio-pharmaceutical company, she knew how to pack an overnight bag and get a job done. Coupled with skills in marketing, finance, and defining a message, Gretchen was prepared to take Interlude Antiques further. She chose to hit the road.
Now armed with a gorgeous inventory, a wealth of professional and personal connections grown through her adventures, and her own passion, Gretchen’s business thrives.
“As a mom to young adults, it has been fun to see the appeal of antique jewelry in my kids’ friend groups,” she says. “These young people have grown up with the idea of reuse, recycle, and repurpose. Many of them thrift. Sustainability is part of their generation, and nothing defines that better than antiques, especially antique jewelry. This generation has embraced what it means to be fashionable while still being conscious of the environment.”
Gretchen told a story of a grandmother who wasn’t sure her granddaughter would appreciate the antique bracelet she bought for her at a recent pop-up in St. Simons.
“Then they returned together and picked out two more bracelets,” she says. “A stack was created, a bond was formed, and another antique lover was born.”
Name bracelets are especially popular. “I’ll buy every bracelet with an old name. I’ve had Maude, Esther, Ruth, Rebecca, Ida, Thelma, and Louise. I love the old hand engraving, and that the old names that are finding favor again. To imagine that a person was so loved that their jewelry carried their name over time, all the way here to Louisiana, it’s something,” she says. “I love being a steward of the past.”
As well as bracelets, crosses and watch chains sell well. “You can wear one necklace five different ways,” Gretchen explains.
Gretchen is a testament to the power of antique jewelry to capture one’s personal story.
“I wear my watch chain necklace to game days with the right colors and fobs,” she says. “These pieces tell the story of my life, from the days when my son was the kicker in high school to the time my daughter cheered in college to the countless soccer games when the twins were top players. This jewelry is repurposed, reused, and ready to remember a mother’s story.”
Gretchen breaks it down in true Louisiana fashion. “Around here, we do gumbo. It all starts with the trinity: bell peppers, onions, and celery. After that, everyone has their own recipe. It’s the same with jewelry. Start with a few solid pieces and spin them to create your own look.”
Reflecting on her business, Gretchen shares her guiding principle. “It took a friend to push me to take myself seriously as a curator of antiques. Someone saw my potential and helped me along. I do the same with my treasures. As southern as sweet tea, an antique bracelet is like a little black dress, made to go everywhere with you. Like a favorite pair of jeans or your go-to shoes, these are the pieces that stay on the top of your dresser, ready. You instantly feel like you look nice when you slip on that bracelet or fasten that chain around your neck. You’re ready to face the task of the day. Antique jewelry is made to be worn, to be a part of your look.”
To learn more about Interlude Antiques, visit Gretchen’s Instagram page: instagram.com/interludeantiques.
