By Ryan Wallace

The simplest recipe we’ve found to an extraordinary career involves a keen mixture of talents and passion. By utilizing what you’re good at, and what you know, you can leverage your enthusiasm into a great sales pitch, or even bend the artistic bounds to create something new. Bringing together the skill sets of an industry-experienced merchandiser and the memories of a childhood pastime, one father-daughter duo has taken their Saturday yard sale trips to another level.

Founding their very own lifestyle blog turned vintage jewelry brand, Sweet & Spark, Jillian and Howard Bremer have a way to breathe new life into American classics. Transitioning from corporate careers in buying to passionate vintage jewelry hunters, they’ve turned memories into a lucrative brand.

“After the new brand I was working on closed, I decided to leave and pursue my dream of building a brand by combining my dad’s antiquing hobby with my merchandising background” Jillian says. “I’d grown up going to yard sales and flea markets with him and was always amazed at how much cool stuff is out there! You never know what you’re going to find, and that’s part of the rush. You have to be prepared to find the score of your life or go home empty-handed.”

Adventurous “sparkhunters”, consistently on the road looking for those actual diamonds in the rough, the duo divides their work between East coast and West. With dad in the East and Jillian in the West, their buying experience has been founded on years of trial and error. With an expertise in sourcing those invaluable vintage accessories, and blending two drastically different aesthetics, Sweet & Spark is a literal collection of the best classic American jewelers.

“As a curated, vintage jewelry brand our mission is to bridge the gap between the overwhelming world of vintage and modern trends” Jillian says. “With my dad as head buyer scouring the entire East Coast and myself out West, we are both at different markets throughout each week—we couldn’t be on more opposite extremes! But we balance each other out and keep one another humble. When we’re on the road buying, it’s mostly make-up free days, which is so refreshing.”

Not always a fan of the hunt, Jillian reveals that growing up, she used to be embarrassed of the Saturday morning routine yard sales with her dad. But with rise of blogging, a blossoming obsession with accessories and the immersive challenge of the vintage industry, Jillian has found her skill sets lend to her success.

“It’s refreshing to switch gears and immerse [myself] into the vintage industry, as it’s highly disconnected from mass consumption and challenges the mind to approach ‘the hunt’ in a much different manner” Jillian says. “Thanks to the rise of blogging, I love that people have more style confidence than ever and are looking for ways to standout from the crowd. I believe there are no ‘fashion rules’, it’s all about wearing a trend with confidence and jewelry is the easiest way to add your own personality to any outfit.”

Vibrant pieces that can help define a look or elevate an outfit, jewelry serves an important role in the wardrobes of both men and women alike. But gleaming with one-of-a-kind couture pieces, there is something quite unique about vintage jewelry. Boasting a history that not only dates a piece, but also tells a story, they are opportunities to stand alone and set yourself apart from the crowd.

A vice for some, the thrill and adventure of the hunt give statement accessories all that much more of a story. But finding the truly valuable pieces is not a journey for the faint of heart. Making it their life’s work to source the highest quality pieces there are in the market, Sweet & Spark has all of the jewels with none of the hassle of digging through the junk.

“Our mission is to do the dirty work for you and provide credibility in the overwhelming world of vintage” Jillian says. “We’ve done a lot of research on the signed costume designers and therefore are able to weed out fakes and anything broken or re-worked. A lot of our finds are discovered by just getting in the car and stopping along the way, based on what we see.”

Blending classic aesthetics with bold designs, they find a new role for the superb pieces in dusty drawers, and one day hope to create their own pieces to add to the collections as well—mirroring all of their favorite components of the vintage pieces they’ve found over the years.

“We hope to someday launch a vintage-inspired line, but in order to do this we’d want to hold the integrity of the quality that vintage costume jewelry has, and [we] will need to find the right resources to execute this” Jillian says. “There is so much more opportunity in the vintage industry and we haven’t even cracked much of it yet.”

Whether your aesthetic is bohemian chic or contemporary casual, you’ll always find an occasion for those statement-worthy pieces. And giving a little invigoration into an outfit, the pieces you’ll find with vintage jewelry will offer more unique personality, as they’ve stood the tests of time. Offering consistent collections of one-of-a-kind pieces, Sweet & Spark has found a distinct aesthetic through the combination of multiple artists. And in bringing together a large breadth of American designers over the course of five decades, the pieces you’ll find curated by the brand are the dreams of jewelers past.

So what advice do the experts have for amateur “sparkhunters” in the making?

“We’re learning that bigger and more well-known does not necessarily equal better. Sometimes the best places to find vintage goods are in small towns” Jillian says. “Vintage costume jewelry is competitive—in order to scoop it up first you need to be first.  If you’re feeling up for the chase, and don’t mind getting out there early and a little dirty, flea markets and yard sales have some of the best treasures for the best price. You never know what you’re going to find, and that’s part of the rush.”

“Bringing a small eyeglass loop with you is always a good idea. That way you can see if a piece is signed by the designers name; we tend to focus American Designers from the 40’s-90’s along the names of Monet, Trifari, Napier, Goldette, Lisner, Kramer and Coro. While I believe a little wear to the finish gives a piece character, make sure to stay away from pieces that are broken, missing stones or have any green gunk on them. They are more trouble than they are worth.”