Meet Caro-Gray Bosca and Mary Hughes of Hughes Bosca in Cape Ann

Today we’d like to introduce you to Caro-Gray Bosca and Mary Hughes.

Caro-Gray and Mary, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
We met 20 years ago. What started as a business relationship blossomed into a full business partnership and friendship. We thrive on mutual trust, flexibility and a shockingly similar aesthetic. From the outset, our vision was to continually grow, as artists both individually and as a duo. This process of discovery enables us to continually create something new and unique.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
We design and make all of our work by hand. What many people don’t realize is that being an artist is hard work. We often hear “your job must be so much fun. You sit and create all day”. In reality, we work very hard to make our work stand out and continually change.

Outside Influences beyond our control can also present challenges. An example is the fluctuating prices for gold and other materials intrinsic to the business. You also have to remember that we have to compete and stand out in an age when the internet and social media have created a global jewelry market with instant availability. We are exceedingly aware that Jewelry is not something someone needs. We strive to make compelling works of art that become something a person wants and must have for their own. Many artists struggle with selling their work. These days you have to be just as good at the creating as the selling.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Hughes Bosca – what should we know?
We design, make and sell beautiful wearable objects with timeless appeal. To us, Jewelry is very personal. When a person buys a piece it says something about the wearer. Often something they couldn’t say with their own words. Our repeat clients tell us that they clearly recognize a “Hughes Bosca” creation in a show/gallery or worn at a special occasion. This emphasizes the unique nature of our work.

While time consuming, we enjoy custom work. This often involves reusing and updating a customer’s own favorite or inherited piece into our more contemporary style. We have been invited to appear in major museums and shows, this recognition speaks for itself. (Peabody Essex, National Museum for Women in the Arts, the Smithsonian and the Fuller Craft Museum).

Each design presents a unique surprise. No two pieces are alike. Such serendipity sets our work apart. Our work has an antique quality akin to buried treasure, but has the refinement found in a fine diamond ring. Intricate details in gold and precious and semi-precious stones also distinguish our work. For example, a ring may have a diamond at the back of the shank. This unexpected detail only visible to the wearer is one of our idiosyncratic surprises.

We take enormous pride in being artists, designers and makers. Often designers are not the ones physically making their designs. We not only design our pieces, but we also make all of our work. It may be surprising that after twenty plus years of working together, we rarely make the same piece twice! We joke that we bore easily, thus inventiveness is our formula for success. We feel this approach keeps the work relevant and recognizable among our peers and clients alike in an ever changing market place.

Jewelry is very personal and assumes the persona of the person wearing it (and sometimes vice versa).
Our repeat clients tell us that they often recognize a “Hughes-Bosca” creation in a show/gallery or worn at a special occasion. Our custom work can also include reusing and updating a customer’s own favorite pieces into our more contemporary style.

As we have been invited to appear in major museums and shows, this recognition speaks for itself we believe (Peabody Essex, National Museum for Women in the Arts, the Smithsonian and the Fuller Craft Museum).

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Nova who has been with us for 16 years is our only full time goldsmith other than the two of us. She is both a tremendous person and enormous help. She stays at the bench while we are away at shows to sell our work. She allows us the time to take care of the many other aspects of running our business. While we love to think we are artists, in the end we are a business with all that implies.

Emily is our Gallery manager, without her we could not survive. She handles the day to day customers, phone calls, applications for shows and web inquiries. She keeps the gallery organized so that we have the freedom to do everything else that has to get done on a daily basis.

Our friends and clients have been huge supporters and cheerleaders. They love us and our work and we are very fortunate that they often take it home with them. This ongoing reaffirmation that we really ARE making something special allows us to carry on.

All of us are products of our environments. We were both fortunate to grow up learning to appreciate beautiful things. Both of us started making things as small children. There was no question that we would eventually become artists. I believe our visual vocabulary started there. For that, we have to thank our parents for all they did to make us the individuals we have become.

Pricing:

• Our work ranges from $500-$40,000 all dependent on the metal, gems and materials. Therefore there is a piece for every budget.

Contact Info:

• Address: Hughes Bosca
  17 Rocky Neck Ave
  Gloucester, Ma 01930
• Website: HughesBosca.com
• Phone: 978-283-3791
• Email: info@hughesbosca.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hughesboscajewelry/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SideStreetRockyNeck
• Other: https://www.pinterest.com/hughesbosca/pins/

Image Credit:
Dean Powell

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