Tag: Jewelry in Sainte Genevieve

Only Child Originals – Where a 25-Time World Champion Footbag Player Creates One-of-a-Kind Jewelry in a Former Sausage Factory At 176 North Main Street in the 1874 Oberle building—where famous Ste. Genevieve Oberle sausage was once made—artist Sam Conlon creates handmade jewelry, garden art, and recycled metal sculptures in a shop proving that a professional “Hacky Sack” champion, former San Francisco street performer, and Patagonia retail veteran can find her calling making one-of-a-kind earrings from beads and luminaries from reclaimed barn tin. Open Thursday through Sunday 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Only Child Originals is a whole store of handmade (right here in this building!) goodies for your body, home, and garden—where beads of every color adorn the displays, custom jewelry matches hard-to-pair outfits, creative metal cutouts transform scrap roofing into whimsical garden décor, and a pleasant garden area with fish pond behind the shop invites browsing at the pace of small-town Ste. Genevieve rather than big-city San Francisco. Sam Conlon: Third-Generation Artist Raising Fourth-Generation Artist Only Child Originals exists because third-generation artist Sam Conlon passed through Ste. Genevieve nearly 25 years ago (around 2000), peered into a vacant downtown building, and saw beyond the dust and deterioration to envision Read more…

Ralston Fine Jewelry – Gail Ralston Carries Forward Six Decades of Jewelry Legacy  At 272 Merchant Street, the same downtown storefront that’s served Sainte Geneviève’s jewelry needs since 1958, Gail M. Ralston maintains a tradition of personalized service, expert craftsmanship, and connection to life’s milestone moments that spans three ownership periods and six decades of community trust. The building’s history tells the story: Harry “Quinton” Klaus ran the business from 1958 until Tom and Sue Steiger bought it in 1975 (Tom had started by buying “two little dogs” from Klaus for a girl he knew in school, then wound up caring for Klaus’ horses and eventually working for him after learning watch repair and jewelry work in Quincy, Illinois). The Steigers operated for 40 years—from Gerald Ford’s presidency and Bob Gibson’s final Cardinals season through the digital age—building reputation as full-service jewelers offering batteries, watches, engraving, diamonds in every size and shape, custom ring and pendant design, and diamond upgrades. When the Steigers sold in 2021, Gail Ralston assumed ownership, rebranding as Ralston Fine Jewelry while preserving the essential character that locals have relied on for generations: thoughtful jewelry selection ranging from fine pieces to costume jewelry, well-known collectible lines Read more…