Adam Marc Jewels, 'luxury costume jewelry' shop, opens in Great Neck

When Tania Namdar decided it was time to open a store on Long Island, friends discouraged her from considering Great Neck, even though that’s where she lives. She didn’t listen.

Namdar recently opened Adam Marc Jewels on Middle Neck Road. “People didn’t encourage me,” she says. “So many stores have closed. But my gut kept pulling me to Great Neck,” she says, having just pulled the brown paper off the windows in preparation for the Dec. 7 opening.

“I wanted to make the store so pretty and so inviting that it would be an experience,” says Namdar, describing the small, elegantly appointed shop. “I only carry things I would wear myself,“ says the London native, who moved to the United States when she was 17. “I’m very picky … I like the latest things,” she says, adding that she’s had no formal design training. “I just have an eye.”

It’s not her first store. Namdar owned Adam Marc SoHo (named for her twin sons) on Spring Street in Manhattan, but astronomical rent forced her to close in 2016. “I couldn’t handle it, especially in the dead of winter when there were no sales,” she says. “I had to let it go.” She turned to local trunk shows and pop-ups, building a loyal customer base for what she describes as “luxury costume jewelry.” When one of her regular pop-up spots closed, she started thinking about a more permanent location.

Current bestsellers include layering necklaces (“everyone wants to wear three or four pieces,” she says), statement earrings and stacking bracelets and rings. “People are wearing five or six of each at a time,” she says.

Customers also look for jewelry for travel, “so they don’t have to take their good jewelry,” says Namdar. Tennis bracelets and necklaces, anniversary rings are all made with finely cut cubic zirconia. “It looks the same,” she says. “You really can’t tell the difference.”

Namdar has high hopes for the store. There’s nothing like it, she believes, where people can go and get a cool pair of earrings for a party, or buy a great gift at an affordable price. “I had a really good feeling if I opened it, people would come.”

Prices start at around $50 and go up to around $1,000. There’s also a smattering of pricier fine jewelry.

Adam Marc Jewels is located at 83 Middle Neck Rd., Great Neck. The shop is open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays; noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, closed Saturday; adammarcjewels.com.