Stroll into Shannon Green Long’s namesake fine jewelry boutique, Shannon Green Collection in the burgeoning Naples Design District, and you’ll likely spot the owner chatting with a customer at a wooden table with a tray full of gems, while her three dogs lounge nearby. The freestanding building with its signature black-and-white-striped awning on 12th Street South is a happy space that Green Long purposefully chose three years ago for its central location in the fast-growing neighborhood. Glass museum cases and a handsome antique jewelry case from the 1850s showcase eight jewelry lines handpicked by her. “My job is to find treasures that make people happy,” she says of the boutique’s core of small-batch artisans, who aren’t found at most department stores. “With these designers, you’ll likely end up with a one-of-a-kind piece.”
Green Long can trace her initial love for jewelry back to her childhood in Kentucky, watching her mother and grandmother adorn themselves with pieces from bygone eras. “My grandmother’s style was from the 1950s, and my mother’s jewelry had a ’70s-vibe,” she recalls. “You don’t always remember the clothes that someone wore when you were growing up, but you do remember what their diamond ring looked like or the necklace that they wore daily.” Channeling the laidback vibes of Naples, Long’s easy daily uniform consists of denim, a black T-shirt or tailored white blouse, covetable shoes, and, of course, statement jewelry. “It really is all about the jewelry and good shoes. That’s what makes me feel dressed,” she says, adding that a big cocktail ring, even in the daytime, is a must. While she constantly rotates jewelry, there’s one special bracelet that she’s worn for 20 years: a Bvlgari two-tone Spiga wrap bracelet that she gifted herself.
