Interview Y&R: Sharon Case Is a Designing Woman

Sharon Newman definitely does not have time to spare in her emotionally busy life in Genoa City to even think about creating a jewelry line. However, her alter ego, Sharon Case, has managed to squeeze the title of “businesswoman” into her already busy schedule by deciding to create her own line of jewelry, called Pomp. Sharon will be debuting her line of jewelry on QVC Aug. 10 at 2 p.m. ET, and I caught up with her recently so she could tell me all about it.

Daytime Dial: Most women, like me and you, love jewelry and probably have thought about creating our own jewelry at one time or another. What gave you that final push to say, “Hey, I am going to produce my own line of jewelry and sell it on QVC”?

Sharon Case: Yeah, I think that we women all think about having our own line of something. Whether we are into clothes or skin care. I’ve always loved costume jewelry, but for years and years it just wasn’t in style the way it is now. When I was a little girl, my grandmother gave me all of her costume jewelry. It was really in style then and I just loved it. And I wore it all the time playing dress-up as a little girl, but for years and years it really hasn’t quite been in style. We had sort of a costume-jewelry style that was popular in the ’80s, but then that left and we sort of went into a more delicate, fine-jewelry style for years. Now we are really into these chunky necklaces and bracelets.

There was a manufacturer who worked at QVC and approached me about it, so it just worked out that way. Nowadays, everything that we wear and anything that you see in the stores, the whole outfit is made on the jewelry. It’s really the jewelry that pulls every outfit together.

DD: What inspires your jewelry creations?

SC: It just kind of comes together somehow. It’s not one particular thing that inspires me — like with anything, you are inspired by everything you see. A lot of my inspirations come from the jewelry that my grandmother gave me when I was 10. I love chunky rhinestone necklaces. I love beads and pearls — layers and layers and layers of beads, and I just love them.

DD: What is Elif Inanc’s role in Pomp; is she your co-designer?

SC: Elif is really the designer. She is a stylist; that’s what she does by trade. She is the stylist of “The Young and the Restless.” She is a great designer — clothes, jewelry and handbags, everything. She has done a lot of the work, and I had a few things that I had always loved and wanted to make for years, so I put in a few of my things. Then we put them all together and decided what would go in the line.

DD: What kind of consumer are you hoping to attract with your QVC program?

SC: QVC has a wide variety of people who watch it. That is partly why we made such a wide variety of jewelry, so there would be something for everyone. We have mostly sort of chunky, funky fashion jewelry, but we made one or two very dainty more-minimalistic pieces that look a little bit more like fine jewelry. We speak to the whole audience.

DD: That’s a good choice, because some people wear more dainty, muted items at work, then at night they bring out the funky stuff.

SC: That was what we hoped to do. Some people will wear different day jewelry than night, and I will too, but others, they have their one thing they like to stick to. We had to make sure that we made something for everyone. We wanted to show the appeal to as many people as possible. We love so many different kinds of jewelry, Elif and I both. We are fond of all of it. I wear all of it.

DD: How do you juggle having a demanding daytime job with starting up your own jewelry line?

SC: Having a partner is key. I couldn’t have done it just by myself. If it weren’t for Elif, I wouldn’t have found the time. It really takes two or more people to put this together when the people involved already otherwise have full-time jobs. That was why it worked out.

DD: Is there a website where fans can purchase your jewelry?

SC: Yes, QVC does sell all of its pieces at qvc.com. After our show airs on Aug. 10, they will be available on qvc.com for purchase.