Angelo

Our Story

In 1972, 25-year-old Lee Angelo Marraccini accompanied his wife Pam to an art studio in Washington, DC, where she was taking classes in pottery. On a whim, he enrolled in a jewelry-making workshop, and within a year he and Pam had left their jobs as high school teachers, outfitted their GMC van with a bed and camp stove, and set out on a road trip through the United States and Mexico.

During their trip, Lee met jewelers around the continent and refined his technique, and in the summer of 1973 the pair landed at the Belles Artes San Miguel de Allende School of Art.

There, for only $32 a month, they enrolled in a bohemian course of study that included drawing, ballet, guitar, and jewelry design. Their one-month trip turned into three, and when it was time to go, they settled in West Virginia to be closer to family.

Armed with new creations, Lee hit the craft show circuit more frequently over the next several years. Business grew, as did his relationships with other jewelers.

At the same time, Wild, Wonderful West Virginia was proving a little too wild, and when floods, isolation, and harsh weather sent Lee and Pam searching for a new place to settle, Pam suggested Charlottesville, Virginia. They moved there in 1984.

Lee continued to develop his craft. He studied intermediate and advanced stone setting at the Revere Academy in 1986; his pieces became stronger, yet retained their sense of playfulness. They reflected his theory that jewelry should be "serious fun" for the wearer.

Photograph by Rob Baker

In 1998 he opened Angelo, a jewelry store in the Old Michie Building off Charlottesville's Historic Downtown Mall. Two years later, Lee Angelo moved the storefront to its current location directly on the Downtown Mall, where his son Marco designed the space.