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Meet Walter Hollander of Cornelis Hollander Designs in Old Town Scottsdale

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Walter Hollander.

Walter, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Cornelis Hollander’s debut was sensational. In 1982, the largest jewelry design contest in the country was the “Gold 82” competition. Cornelis was working for a local jeweler in Phoenix who told him to design a piece for the contest. With only three days until the deadline, Cornelis quickly made a ring for his work and later that evening, in his garage, he fashioned a second ring to enter under his own name. The ring he made for his work won first place and the entry made for his own company – Cornelis Hollander Designs – won the grand prize. The next day the jewelry buyers from Saks Fifth Avenue called and requested for Cornelis to come to New York with his collection. The legacy started there.

Since starting his business Cornelis Hollander Designs in 1984, the company has won countless design awards and sold jewelry around the globe. In 2017, Cornelis Hollander unfortunately passed away but his legacy lives on. He was a legend in the jewelry industry and as his son, along with the family and an expert team of craftsmen, we will continue to carry his name in the business.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Starting a business from the ground up is always a struggle because you have to compete with large corporations that have a well established footing in the jewelry industry and big marketing budgets to influence the public. The one thing that has always come easy to this company creating innovative and unique designs. We have our own look that is clean, sharp and bold, these creative ideas have always allowed us to climb whatever hurtles are in our path.

Cornelis Hollander Designs – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We are a full-service jewelry design company located in Scottsdale, Arizona. As a well-established jewelry design company, Cornelis’ jewelry has been distributed throughout the U.S. and internationally. All of our jewelry designs are manufactured on the premises, in our studio in Scottsdale. Here at Cornelis Hollander, we work with only the most highly skilled craftsmen to produce the finest quality jewelry.

We operate with an old-world philosophy of trustworthiness, honesty and hard work. Therefore, the sales team doesn’t rely on high-pressure techniques but instead focuses on the history of humble artistry and beautiful designs that sell themselves.

We are the most proud of how people react when seeing how different our jewelry is. We are set apart from the classical or ordinary style that most people think of when they hear jewelry. I like to make people excited to get dressed in the morning and go outside.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
My most proud moment was when I first started making jewelry and I designed one of my first necklace. My dad told me to enter it into a contest so, I did and my dad entered a ring he made as well. My necklace was less expensive than his ring so it was Division B and his was Division A. Then, we both won first place and Cornelis Hollander Designs dominated both divisions. I’m proud of this moment because while my Dad had won many jewelry design contests at this point, I think this was his favorite one.

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Image Credit:
Zerilli Studios

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