Some people are born into families with a trade in their blood, raised alongside the family business and molded, year by year, to carry it forward when the time comes. Blake Polizzi is one of them. Now at the helm of Susan Blake Jewelry, her Coconut Grove store is the newest addition to a family-run group that also includes shops in Armonk, New York, and Delray Beach, and the latest chapter in a story that began long before she was born.
Before she was five years old, she was already tagging along to her grandfather’s jewelry factory on 47th Street, wide-eyed at the rows of old wooden benches where artisans shaped precious metal by hand. “It was just such a special experience,” she recalls. “A lot of old-school wooden benches and a lot of different artisans crafting with their hands.” That world, equal parts craft and character, left a mark that’s never faded.
Honest to a Fault
The story begins with her grandfather. He arrived from Argentina with very little and built a reputation so strong that Tiffany & Co. eventually came calling. What set him apart, Blake says, was not ambition but integrity. “He got to where he is by being a very honest man. He wasn’t doing things for wealth or fame. He was just always very honest and treated everyone well and did what felt right.” That instinct showed up in his designs, which were unique, understated, and quietly classic, and it remains the foundation of Susan Blake today.
The honesty passed down another generation through Blake’s mother, Susan, who lent the shop her name and her uncompromising candor. She was famous for telling a customer not to buy something if it wasn’t right for them, a rarity in retail that became the brand’s signature. Blake inherited that same refreshing approach. “I’m to the point and very honest. It surprises some customers,” she says. “It’s really become part of the Susan Blake brand, our bread and butter.” Her mother taught her something else, too: how to stand her ground. “It’s a rough industry, especially as a young female fighting my way through. You just have to be very strong. I don’t know how I would manage if I was not my mother’s daughter.”
Made to Be Worn
That philosophy shapes what actually makes it into the cases. Blake gravitates toward jewelry meant to be lived in, not locked away. “We focus more on things you could wear daily rather than a massive intricate piece you can wear to a wedding one time,” she says. The real test is whether a piece can endure. “Something that can be passed down. That’s always a good test, if it can survive the decades.”
Her favorite work is the most personal. Customers often arrive with an heirloom they never wear — a ring from a grandmother, a stone with a story — and together they reimagine it into something new. “Being able to repackage a meaningful piece of metal or stone into something you wear every day is the ultimate goal,” she says. She relishes the creative back-and-forth, and just as much the advocacy. “I love fighting to get the best price and quality for them.”
A Gathering Place
Of all the neighborhoods in Miami, only Coconut Grove felt right for the store. “The Grove has always held a special place in my heart. It’s my happy place,” Blake says. She loves its eccentricity, the personality she believes is “seeping through all the seams” even amid a decade of change. And she takes pride in what her shop represents. “I’m proud to be a small mom-and-pop shop helping to uphold the fabric of the Grove.”
That community spirit is at the heart of her larger vision. Blake wants the store to be more than a place to buy jewelry. She sees a comfortable space where people can hang out, talk, and connect. She is building out a lounge area and planning a run of events — talks, readings, collaborations with fellow Grove businesses — in a room whose twenty-foot ceilings leave plenty of possibility. “Any time I need anything for the store, I try to figure out where I can get it within walking distance and support a Grove shop,” she says. Blake values the BID’s knack for shining a light on newcomers and getting the word out about new businesses in the community.
Beyond the counter, Blake’s great passion is health and wellness, a lifelong fascination she once even considered turning into a career. She looks forward to weaving that element, and other extras, including events, into the store down the line. It is all part of the same instinct that runs through everything she does: build something genuine, treat people well, and let the rest follow. The opening party is the last weekend of September, and from there, a wonderful new Grove story begins.
Susan Blake Jewelry is located at 3111 Commodore Plaza, Coconut Grove, FL 33133. It is open Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, call (305) 209-0329 or visit susanblakejewelry.com.