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Celebrate and save at Squash Blossom

Iconic Vail Village jewelry gallery hosting retirement sale

It was 1973 and John and Patti Cogswell had just graduated from college, gotten married and started what is now the Squash Blossom in Vail. After 46 wonderful years of developing relationships with artists and clients and curating a collection of high quality and handcrafted art and jewelry, the Cogswells are retiring.

John and Patty look back fondly at how this adventure all began. “It started in the trunk of Uncle Wilton Cogswell’s turquoise Cadillac,” John explains. “He had quite the collection of Native American jewelry and I helped him arrange an inventory system and get photographs of pieces and about a week later we opened a store in Colorado Springs and Vail.”

“Our honeymoon was spent on the Hopi, Navajo and Zuni reservations where John had $1,500 in his cowboy boot to spend on new inventory,” Patti added. “I learned all my early jewelry skills from the Native Americans. We’d sit at their kitchen table and sort through and always go for the highest quality. We were very particular and always represented jewelry that reflected a unique style,” Patti said.



In addition to the Native American jewelry, the Cogswells eventually added internationally renowned jewelers to their collection.

“Every jeweler that we’ve represented had their own unique and handcrafted style and we’d make sure that we didn’t pick jewelry that looked like someone else’s and a lot of our clients noticed that,” Patti said.

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The Cogswell’s won’t be retiring completely, they will still have a 2,000 square foot gallery in Colorado Springs. But they are looking forward to spending more time with family. “We have four grandkids ranging in age from four to seven,” Patti said. “We haven’t had enough time for hiking, fishing, golfing and biking.”

Stop in and see the amazing curated collection of luxury jewelry at the Squash Blossom in Vail Village and enjoy amazing discounts on their exclusive jewelry collection and say farewell to a couple who grew up with Vail. The store is also for sale, in case someone wants to continue the legacy.

“I have no regrets,” Patti said. “I don’t know how you could have such an adventurous way of making a living. We were always traveling looking for artists, and Vail was a beautiful place to raise our children. But, it’s time.”

For more details, go to http://www.sqashblossom.com.


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