MARISSA ALPERIN

Everything comes full circle.

For jewelry designer Marissa Alperin truer words were never spoken.

“From as far back as I can remember, I was always making things and working with my hands,” said Marissa. “As a kid, my birthday parties alternated between jewelry making and roller skating! I just never imagined I could actually design jewelry professionally.”

Born in the Cobble Hill section of Brooklyn, New York, Marissa lives on the same block where she was raised, now with her husband and three children. Childhood summers spent with her maternal grandmother and relatives in La Coruna, a small coastal town in Spain, “definitely influenced me creatively and still inspires as an adult visiting with my own family.” 

After attending the neighborhood private school, Packer Collegiate Institute, Marissa attended the University of Maryland at College Park, where she graduated in 1999 with a BA in Foreign Language and International Business. During this time, she spent a semester living in Rome studying Italian and Art History and a semester in Madrid studying the culture and Spanish Literature. 

Upon graduation, Marissa was hired as a translator for National Geographic TV in Washington, D.C., reviewing scripts translated into Spanish and Italian. After 3 years, the pull of home and family brought her back to New York.

She continued her work as a translator in Manhattan, but soon decided the time had come to take a chance and follow her true passion. Finally ready to pursue her dream, Marissa enrolled in The Jewelry Design Program at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT.) After completing her associate degree in 2003, Marissa set out to find a studio/shop and thus began her business.