In 2002, artist Cynthia Bloom was working the proverbial Austin, TX, waitress “day job,” searching for her muse. One day, just for fun, she refashioned a friend’s tattered heirloom, a once-elegant multi-strand la Belle Époque necklace, into several dazzling contemporary pieces. Restaurant customers clamored to buy them, and she started taking them to work in an old cigar box.