Ali Weiss Jewelry piercing bar opens in Roslyn
Jewelry maven Ali Weiss, 52, is a walking billboard for her new store in Roslyn — Ali Weiss Jewelry — that offers all kinds of precious baubles including rings, charms, bracelets and necklaces, but mainly focuses on ear piercing. With her seven earrings in one ear, and four in the other plus a cuff, it’s clear that Weiss believes that when it comes to earrings, more is best.
The 1,350-square-foot-store, which opened in September, boasts what Weiss calls, a “luxury piercing bar,” with professional, licensed piercers and a vast range of high-end earrings (“hundreds,” says Weiss) all 14K gold, starting at $150 for a small diamond star stud to about $600 for a cluster of pear-shaped diamonds. Piercing guns are verboten here, and the deed is done by needle.
“What most people are familiar with is the gun, but the needle is so much less traumatic and easier,” explains Weiss. “The piercing is fast, like five minutes; there’s cleaning, drawing a placement dot, taking a deep breath in and a deep breath out, and it’s done. It feels like a mosquito bite.”
Ali Weiss Jewelry in Roslyn specializes in piercing. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
She notes that the most time-consuming parts of the process are choosing the earring and consulting with the piercers on what will work where on client’s individual ears. “Everybody’s ears are so different and you have to choose what earrings are best for each specific part of the ear. There’s a real art and science to it.” These days, says Weiss, the cartilage or outer edge of the ear (technically known as the helix or upper helix) is the most popular place to add an earring.
The just-renovated space has “a cozy vibe,” says Weiss, with a smart color palette of black and white and what she calls, “big smushy chairs” for people to hunker down in and chat with others, along with a fireplace. Her designer, Billy Ceglia, says he wanted the store “to reflect Ali’s personality. She’s a very welcoming person and it feels more like someone’s beautiful home than a retail shop. It’s comfy and encourages people to come and linger though the jewelry is the star.”
Weiss opened her first store, in Armonk, two years ago but has traveled extensively around Long Island working piercing pop-ups and trunk shows from the Hamptons to the North Shore. “We built an enormous client base here, and we knew it would be the next great location,” she says. Appointments are recommended although walk-ins are welcome. Piercing is $25 (plus cost of earring) for the lobe and helix, $35 for other areas. Clients under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
Ali Weiss Jewelry, 1085 Northern Blvd., Roslyn, 914-430-3001, aliweissjewelry.com.
