As with most things in my life, Charlotte’s of Santa Ynez grew organically out of something else. In 2012, my husband Ramon Becerra opened a saddle shop, Santa Ynez Saddlery, that quickly became the largest saddle shop in California. After five years of managing the store for him, I decided that neither of us were having enough fun for how hard we worked so I decided to take my favorite pieces out of the Saddlery and open a boutique with just the jewelry and silver tack. Today, I work just as hard but I surround myself with only beautiful things all day; I couldn’t think of anything better.

I have done many things in my life but retail has always been in my blood. As a child, my mother had a chain of cookware stores called The Thrifty Gourmet in Northern California so I worked every Sunday in the stores. By age 11, I knew more about pots, pans and fine china than any kid should ever know. At age 12, I opened my own stores inside two of her locations called Charlotte’s Christmas Corner, where I sold toys. Since I was a kid myself, I knew what was on-trend and I liked toys so it was a fun and successful venture.

I learned a lot in those 8 years that we had the stores but the most important thing my mother taught me is that as a merchant, it is my job to deliver a quality product at a fair price to my customers. Almost 40 years later, I still strive to fulfill this mantra. I am blessed to have wonderful customers that truly appreciate fine craftsmanship and personalized customer service. Making people happy makes me happy and my shop enables me to do that, each and every day.

I do focus on vintage Native American jewelry but if it’s shiny and good quality, I will stock it in Charlotte’s. I love vintage Mexican jewelry, Italian beads, British silver and just about everything in between. I work directly with numerous jewelry makers and silversmiths throughout the Southwest to procure quality contemporary pieces as well. I also have an entire wall covered with hand crafted bits, spurs and other cowboy silver. Ramon loves to work with leather so we have been working together on some of his projects as well for his Collection. There’s always something new at Charlotte’s so keep coming back to the site and definitely pop in for a visit to the boutique if you’re in the Santa Ynez Valley.

We look forward to seeing you soon!

Best,