For more than half a century, JH Breakell & Co. has been making jewelry and decorative silver objects in Newport, Rhode Island—the longest-running silversmithing business in a state that was once the center of jewelry manufacturing in the United States. The company was founded by Jim Breakell, a self-taught Midwesterner who promised himself, on a medevac helicopter in Vietnam, that if he made it home he'd move to Newport. He did, walked into a shop that was looking for an apprentice to fix silver teapots, and never left.

Dave and Susan Medeiros, both trained silversmiths and designers, took over the company in 2017 with that legacy in mind. Susan had worked with Breakell earlier in her career; for the Medieroses, the opportunity to carry the company forward went hand in hand with their desire to help preserve the art and craft of metalsmithing.

The work has always ranged from the practical to the playful. Their sterling silver broccoli pin, designed by Jim Breakell for former First Lady Barbara Bush as a riff on her husband’s documented distaste for the vegetable, has been one of their best sellers for decades. The original was once on display in the National Museum of American History’s audience-favorite First Ladies Gallery.

One of JH Breakell's signature items is a sterling silver snowflake ornament, each year a new design, that collectors acquire year after year and pass down as heirlooms. It was those ornaments that first connected the company to the Smithsonian Store. Divisional Merchandising Manager, Janet Archer had been receiving one from her brother every Christmas, and when she reached out to explore a collaboration, she already knew the quality of the work firsthand. "We felt like there was a strong overlap in values," Dave says, "and customers who appreciate craftsmanship and unique design."

For the Medeiroses, working with the Smithsonian means drawing from an unusually deep well of source material. Susan, as design director, will search the archives for a stone, setting, or structural detail that could seed a new design. The Institution's collections have inspired everything from gemstone jewelry to pieces developed in connection with the 2025 arrival of giant pandas to the National Zoo. "There is so much freedom as an artist when you're working with the Smithsonian and drawing on our shared history," she says.

That process shaped the Smithsonian Sunburst Ornament, made to mark America's 250th birthday. Breakell's background in jewelry—where every detail is deliberate—guided the design. The ornament's cutwork sunbeams require precision finishing. They matched the Smithsonian's typography for the engraved lettering and sourced a ribbon in a Pantone shade that precisely mirrors the Institution's signature blue.

Like the snowflake ornaments that introduced Janet to the company, this heirloom ornament is made to be collected, cherished, and handed down along with the stories behind it.

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