James Avery Artisan Jewelry is a private company that designs, manufactures, and sells jewelry, primarily Christian themed. The founder, James Avery, started the business in 1954 in Kerrville, Texas out of his (then) mother-in-law's two-car garage with about $250 in capital. In 1954, James Avery built a workbench and fashioned a sign to hang on the garage; it read \