E xplaining her longevity in an often fickle craft world, Alice Klein cites two inspirational quotes: “Good, better, best, never let it rest ‘till the good is better and the better is best” recited to her often in childhood by her mother; and “less is more,” architect Buckminster Fuller’s famous credo which Klein considers central to her design philosophy.  

F rom Milwaukee to Bethany Beach, from wholesale to retail, and through two economic recessions, Alice H. Klein, jeweler, designer and president of T.K.O. Designs, has continued to redefine her product and her company while maintaining a classic design sensibility which has retained customer loyalty for 25 years. 

“I t’s amazing that it’s actually been 25 years,” says Klein, “I still find it extremely challenging and exciting.” Klein’s affinity for fashion started early when she designed and made her own clothing as a teen. Excelling in the arts, she pursued formal training at the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee and Temple University’s Tyler School of Art, where she gravitated toward jewelry, the natural marriage of fashion and art.  Klein found jewelry design challenging both technically and artistically. Her mission has always been to create something “unique, yet saleable; artistic, yet wearable; creative, yet classic”: a goal that continues to challenge and inspire her on T.K.O’s silver anniversary.  

F resh out of graduate school, Klein and her partner, Wyatt Osato, started T.K.O. (Together Klein and Osato) in Philadelphia. In an effort to expand the business, they moved to Milwaukee in 1983, near Klein’s hometown and the residence of her parents and seven siblings.  Soon enough, her family became involved in the business as two sisters became employees and her brothers advised on matters of finance and efficiency.

K lein recalls the difficulty of learning how to run a business. “I faced the ultimate battle every artist faces: trying to figure out how to make enough money to survive, but once I started T.K.O., I never had another job to support myself. My business was my job and my passion” In hindsight, she sees this phenomenon as critical. “I think people who have that security of a job aside from their art often stay half-way into their job and half-way into their art, never fully committing to either.”   

I n 1986, Klein received a Wisconsin Arts Board Grant, marking a critical turning point for her business. “It enabled me to move my studio out of my living space, and I never combined the two again.” Klein says this change in physical space allowed her to view her work as a business, to create an efficient workspace, and to ultimately fill it with workers. T.K.O. quickly grew from a two-person company to having 16 part and full time employees in 1989.

L ike most businesses in the 1990’s, however, T.K.O. soon felt the effects of the recession. A weak economy meant less discretionary income and a soft market for art jewelry.  Klein describes her strategy during this period as “turtle economics”: T.K.O. had to “curl up and take cover for a while” in order to survive the imminent financial threat. Klein did just that as she downsized and moved the company to Delaware, a “business-friendly state,” according to her, and also the home state of her husband. The move to Delaware also marked T.K.O.’s shift into retail sales. Formerly exclusively wholesale, Klein now opened a retail store in Bethany Beach with the help of her sister, Emily Klein-Welch, and husband, Bryant Clark. She never looked back. “People glamorize craft show circuit because it means traveling and meeting people, but the truth is it’s really difficult. Wholesale shows were expensive and exhausting and translated into time spent away from my studio.”

K lein found the transition to retail natural and ideal: “I now have direct contact with my clients. I’m able to meet the customers who have been wearing my designs for years.” The change also saw Klein traverse into what she now describes as the most satisfying part of her craft, custom design. “It’s something very dear to them that they trust me with,” she explains. Customers bring in heirloom stones and after a lengthy conversation, Klein carefully considers the customers, how they will wear the piece, and designs something specifically for them.

“R ecently, a client requested a new piece made from a 1970’s style cocktail ring which was her mother’s.  When she saw the earrings I created with the stones, she became very emotional. She’s now able to wear something that reminds her of her mother every day. By making a piece of jewelry which means so much, I am able to share a moment she’ll never forget; I won’t either.”

T his satisfaction is what spurred Klein to make T.K.O. exclusively retail in 2000.   At that time, Klein doubled the size of her Bethany Beach store and added street frontage, giving the store “more of a gallery look” and allowing T.K.O. to create and house three distinct lines in the store: a gold fill line with cubic zirconia and pearls; fine jewelry with 14 kt gold and semi- precious stones; and a sterling silver line.

A lso staying the course through T.K.O.’s transitions has been Klein’s sister, Emily Klein-Welch. “Whether its making the jewelry, doing the books, making sure the bills are paid on time, I couldn’t ask for a better colleague, sister and best friend,” says Klein, stressing Emily’s integral role in the success and longevity of the company. 

A consummate professional, Klein also continues to hone her craft thirty-five years into her career as a jeweler, most recently taking advanced stone setting courses at New Approach Jewelry School in Virginia Beach with master craftsman, Blaine Lewis. Klein says that Lewis’ tutelage enabled her to reach what she describes as the ultimate level of jewelry making: using colored semi- precious stones and gold to make more sophisticated designs. “I’m combining some of the whimsy of my days in plastics with precious materials and classic settings, resulting in unique, nontraditional, yet classic pieces of jewelry.” 

I n addition to her retail success, Alice Klein continues to receive recognition in the art world. In 2003, she created over fifty one-of-a-kind pieces of jewelry for her one-person show by Delaware Division of the Arts. These designs were a hybrid of her earlier work in plastics and her newer classic techniques and materials. The juxtaposition of the old with the new, brought a “sense of art back into the store,” says Klein. “People who hadn’t seen my one-of-a-kind work loved it; they saw a whole different side of my jewelry making.” 

R eflecting on her place in the world of art world, Klein states: “I think of myself more and more as a designer rather than an artist. I don’t know where the line is between design and art, and art and craft. I’ve never known that line.”

K lein explains that in the European model of fine jewelry making, several people work on the assembly of one piece: a designer envisions the piece, a goldsmith fabricates it and a stone setter adds the stones whereas small art jewelers, like Klein, do everything themselves. The advantage to the latter, she states, is that the jeweler is in touch with the whole piece the whole time. The disadvantage is that she has to be versed in every aspect of the process. “I can do incredible designs but I still have to be able to fabricate it. It’s my greatest problem and my greatest challenge; I can’t just send off an idea and say ‘okay, now go do it.’”

K lein draws her inspiration from customers, mentors, and art history. Her work is unmistakably influenced by the boldness of shape and color in the work of Henri Matisse and the Fauve artists.  She also cites two of her teachers as having great impact on her career. Alice Dunst, her elementary school art teacher, recognized Klein’s potential and encouraged her artistic expression. Jack Waldheim, one of Klein’s professors in undergraduate school, helped her recognize that form follows function and good design should be everywhere on life. “Because of him, I’ve always wanted my jewelry to be functional. An earring doesn’t have to be boring just because it’s wearable. In the jewelry world, it seems that the less wearable a piece is, the more artistic it’s deemed.”

R egarding art and jewelry, Klein says that she falls between the cracks. “I’m not conceptual enough for those in the Society of North American Goldsmiths, who would consider me too production-oriented, yet I’m not traditional enough to fit into the arena of mainstream jewelers.”  Perhaps it is the fact that her work defies classification that keeps Klein challenged and her customers intrigued. “I’ve decided I don’t need to fit into a neat category or discrete definition; I’m an art-jeweler.”

O n T.K.O.’s 25th anniversary, Klein is appreciative of the career which customer loyalty has afforded her. “I have an incredible life. I now have the luxury of time in the off-season to design new pieces and still enjoy the challenging sport of kite surfing with my husband.” As for the future, Klein sees herself maintaining the retail business and continuing to craft new designs for her customers. “I can ’t imagine ever retiring,” she says.

T .K.O. Designs is located at 100 Garfield Parkway, Bethany Beach; phone: 302-539-6992. Summer hours are 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. daily. September through April hours is Friday through Sunday 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.