Chaney Chicks & Island Gifts, St. Croix

My wife found a jewelry store (Chaney Chicks on Queen Cross St. & Strand St.) where she got a pair of conch-shell pink earrings ($28) to match a pendant we had purchased some years ago in Key West in the shape of a rose. The saleslady was both helpful and classy. One of the popular pieces at her store was Chaney, which is broken ceramic china from the time St. Croix was Danish (there was a New Year's Eve tradition involving smashing china), then installed in bezels and put into jewelry. Sea glass is similar coming from sea-smoothed shards of broken glass. Larimar was her other product line, a light blue stone from the Dominican Republic. Fortunately for us, she was ready to give my wife a military discount. We hope to return!

Great gift shop just a few steps off the Christiansted boardwalk. The main product is jewelry, crafted from locally found pieces of beach glass and chaney. Chaney, in case you don't know, is a St Croix term for shards of fine china and pottery that are found all over the island, remnants of the age of sail. The proprietors find their own pieces for their jewelry, but will gladly turn beach glass or chaney you find during your visit into a keepsake (no seashells, though -- those are a natural resource that must remain on the island). Also sold in the shop are a selection of local products such as hot sauce and honey. Worth stopping in if you're anywhere near Christiansted.