Cedar’s Liz Saile of L. Saile Designer Jewelry is only one of hundreds of small businesses in Leelanau County, but her passion for local and personalized jewelry is unmatched.
“We meet so many nice people, and they’re as excited as I am when they come in the front door,” Saile said.
Saile, 74, works in her Cedar shop at the blinking light at 8998 S. Kasson St. while finishing a pair of combination earrings made of Leland blues, Petoskey stones, and more. Saile is a talented artist who transforms local stones into designs suitable for various tasks.
In 1970, Saile started working at Martineks Jewelry in Traverse City, which was then known as Michigan’s oldest jewelry store.
When the business was sold in 1996, Saile had been searching for about a decade to break back into the jewelry business, even though she couldn’t afford diamonds or gold.
After taking classes at the Grand Traverse Rock and Mineral Club, which taught silversmithing and polishing, she finally took the lead in 2006 and opened L. Saile Designer Jewelry on the other side of the ice cream store in Cedar.
Nearly six years ago, she moved into her current location with Brenda Bugai, with a bigger workspace and retail space.
She specializes in polished and mounted Leland Blues and Petoskey stones. One relic she kept from her Martineks days was the engraver machine, which helps personalize her jewelry.
“The hearts have done well, and then the earrings have been very popular,” she said.
Recently, Holy Rosary had two men ordained, using two of Saile’s jewelry.
Saile is lucky to have built connections and loves every second of running the shop in Cedar.
“If I got any bigger, I’d have to have employees, which is fine for some people, but it wouldn’t be my creation. These are all of my ideas, and I make them from start to finish,” she said. “It just doesn’t get any better than that.”
After a hard day’s work, Saile loves to go home and sit with her dogs. Her dogs, Chunk and Mac, are Australian cattle dogs and a blue heeler mix.
“I’ve never had such compassionate, loving dogs,” Saile said.
Saile has lived in Maple City since the early 2000s when she had horses.
“Maple City is wonderful. It’s just a nice little village,” she said.
She also produces rare jewelry, including slag from a former sugar beet processor in Bay City in the mid-1900s.
Saile grew up in Traverse City and has two daughters, Meg and Emily. She is also a grandmother to a 25-year-old.
“They’re all pretty special,” Saile said.
