About Meg Carter Designs

Inspired by a love of the sea and the garden, the Meg Carter designs collection is crafted by hand in Virginia of freshwater pearls, semi precious stones, hand made florals and natural shells. On a trip to her parents' beach house two decades ago, Meg Carter's youngest son, then five, bought home a cage full of a hermit crabs. When one of the crabs abandoned his home, Carter — a Dartmouth grad who left a consulting career upon the birth of her first son — couldn't bear to toss the unique, pearlized shell away. Instead, she ran it through the dishwasher and found a way to attach it to a string of pearls. "My father is the one who helped me figure it out. He was a talented amateur craftsman who built ship models and furniture. I still use some of his tools". When her summer friends in Maine saw the shell choker, they begged Carter to make more. She came up with a dozen designs and sold them all to a boutique in Kennebunkport. "My father couldn't believe I could sell this stuff," Carter laughs. Back in her home in Virginia, Meg Carter Designs was officially launched. Now sold in more than ninety stores, Carter's designs appeal to the woman of effortless elegance, and never fail to attract the "where did you get that?" request. But far from being jaded after twenty years in business, Carter always takes a moment on Christmas or Valentine's Day to stop whatever she's doing and picture all those tiny blue and white boxes with her signature blue ribbon being opened.Read their story