During the last five years, Anna Maria Island has gone from a sleepy little beach community to a full-fledged travel destination. Growing right along with the Island, Bridge Street Jewelers has developed their client base from vacationers buying a token remembrance to travelers and seasonal visitors looking for high-end custom jewelry, and they’re just beginning.

Like so many other Island transplants Brad Smith and Kassy Quinn found Anna Maria Island through friends with a little kismet thrown in thanks to an airline postponement delaying their return to Pennsylvania. Since that time the husband and wife team have not only maintained their northern jewelry store but have also expanded the level and selection of jewelry at Bridge Street Jewelers.

Bridge Street Jewelers’ signature item for the past five years has been their AMI destination bracelet available in sterling, gold, combination of sterling and gold and diamond inserts. They also have a large selection of AMI destination earrings, pendants, rings, topper bracelets and AMI beads as well as destination bracelets for Longboat Key. If you would like to trade in your AMI destination bracelet for an upgraded one Bridge Street Jewelers will give you full value for the original.

Recently they have put more emphasis on designing their own line of one-of-a-kind fine jewelry utilizing precious and semi-precious gemstones from around the world with an emphasis on larger size diamonds. In addition to carrying a large selection of estate jewelry including Rolex watches, they can work with you on custom designs and redesign of heirloom jewelry. They also carry a full line of wedding and engagement rings.

The newest addition to Bridge Street Jewelers’ collection is exclusive pieces from Denny Wong, a seven-time international award winning jewelry designer from Hawaii. Denny Wong features marine life and tropical flowers in his designs, some with moving parts. Kassy Quinn says his designs cross the threshold from being jewelry to becoming art.

Bridge Street Jewelers boasts the only two master jewelers and gemologists on the Island, who are qualified to provide written and verbal appraisals for both personal and insurance purposes. They are also able to do jewelry repairs, ring cleaning and replacement of watch batteries. Also watch for advertised specials contained on their color inserts in local papers. And you can’t help but notice the artwork on the walls available for sale by Wyland and Jim Warren. In addition, 2014 will be an exciting year for Bridge Street Jewelers since they are planning to expand and renovate their store in order to accommodate the demand for additional inventory. Kassy Quinn and Brad Smith have loved their five years on Anna Maria Island and can’t wait for the next five. They have been accepted by the community and have formed many friendships and lifelong customers. They are also generous to the local community and participate in the Bridge Street Open House as well as donating $10,000 worth of merchandise annually to the AMI Community Center fundraiser.

Whether you’re looking for a destination bracelet, or a unique Denny Wong piece of jewelry, the staff at Bridge Street Jewelers will help you find the exact fit. As far as AMI destination bracelets go, mine has been around the world most recently in the Middle East. When I told Kassy and Brad it was the only piece of jewelry I took on my trip they said how perfect a destination bracelet on a destination trip. Make your next jewelry buying destination Bridge Street Jewelers before another five years goes by.

 

BRIDGE STREET JEWELERS

129 Bridge St.
Bradenton Beach
941-896-7800
www.amibracelet.com

10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Monday – Saturday

Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover

 

Most brokerage firm and mutual fund websites have articles to inform us of the dangers of trying to time the stock market, meaning that they discourage any effort to move into and out of the market in an attempt to participate in the good times, and to miss out on the bad times.

At first glance this seems like noble advice, but it is often provided in a manner which excludes half of the truth. The gist of most of this material is to show you how little your investment plan will make if you miss out on the best 25, 50, or 100 days of the last 20 years, and therefore imply that you need to stay invested at all times so you won't miss out on these very best days.

The complete story would include the fact that well over 70 percent of the very best days for the stock market have historically occurred when the market is in decline, during a period known as a bear market, which generally means a drop in excess of 20 percent. It is these same periods of time which also contain well over 70 percent of the very worst days, meaning that to participate in the best days, you’ll also participate in the very worst. Multiple studies have confirmed this.

Two concepts strike me when considering the ramifications of this fact:

1. Studies show that the 100 worst days totally erase the impact of the best days, meaning that unless you are sharp enough to jump in and out of the market on a daily basis, you obtain no benefit from participating in the very best days.

2. The very best and worst days are concentrated in small periods of time usually near the end of significant market declines when the volatility is extreme and investors are susceptible to emotional decision making - which usually leads to mistakes like selling when the damage has already been done.

I'm not trying to say that a buy and hold approach to investing won't work - it has been time proven that it will. But a buy and hold strategy requires that the investors complete the "hold" part of the process, even when things get scary and you may have doubts about the very survival of the financial system like we experienced in 2008. For many, this is just too much to ask.

Perfect market timing is also a pipe dream since there is no such thing. However, utilizing some simple trend following rules could allow you to avoid some of the more extreme periods of volatility and avoid some of the emotion induced decision making which usually ends badly.

I'm happy to share a simple research piece that illustrates how the best and worst days are clustered together and how they tend to cancel each other out over time. There is no obligation. Email Andria Ludlum ( andria@breitercapital.com ) and request the 100 Best Days Research Paper, and we'll be happy to email you a copy.

The most important thing is to have a plan to follow, whether that is a buy and hold approach, or a method involving some rules based timing. Good luck and good investing.

Tom Breiter is president of Breiter Capital Management, Inc., an Anna Maria based investment advisor. He can be reached at 778-1900. Some of the investment concepts highlighted in this column may carry the risk of loss of principal, and investors should determine appropriateness for their personal situation before investing. Visit www.breitercapital.com.