Kristina Halladay-Warren and Véronik Langlois, co-founders and creative directors of Coming Age, a Montreal-based women-owned creative jewellery studio, are dedicated to crafting custom grillz and fine jewellery with a personal touch. The duo specialize in custom pieces made from precious metals, bringing their combined expertise in research, development, production, and customer relations to every aspect of their business.
What is your business called and what does it do?
Coming Age is a women-owned creative jewellery studio based in Montreal. We specialise in custom grillz, but we also do custom jewellery in all precious metals and have ready-to-wear jewellery collections in silver available for sale on our site or at our studio.
What made you want to do this work?
We are both driven by a passion for exploring materials and have a need to imbue our lives with a creative sensibility on a daily basis. It’s what feeds us and gives us joy. When we sit down to start a project, we lose ourselves in a kind of trance. It’s very peaceful and meditative. And the autonomy that comes with being self-employed melds really well with our lifestyles.
What problem did you want to solve with the business?
Our goal was to create a custom grillz and jewellery service that truly captures the unique visions of our clients. We offer a new style of grillz with a thoughtful artistic approach. Each piece we craft isn’t just about style—it’s a deeply personal expression of the wearer’s identity and story.
Many of our clients come to us with a desire to convey something meaningful through their adornments, and we love bringing those ideas to life. 12 years of honing our skills and building strong relationships with a vast network of professionals is what allows us to deliver work that resonates with our clients. In the grillz industry specifically, not many grillz makers have a professional background in jewellery making or product design and therefore are limited in what they can offer.
Additionally, we’ve come to realize with time that being two women with an easy-going and disarming demeanour is the major factor that differentiates us from our competitors. Our clients appreciate that our studio is a safe space for them to express themselves authentically.
Who are your clientele/demographics?
Our clientèle seems to be anyone who is interested in or influenced by pop culture and emerging trends, particularly urbanites and professional creatives aged 18-40. We serve a very diverse community, with a strong presence of LGBQT2+ individuals as well as people of colour. Interestingly, we’ve noted that our clientèle for grillz is mostly individuals who identify as women, and for jewellery, it’s mostly individuals who identify as men.
How does your business make money? How does it work?
The majority of our revenue comes from the sales of custom grillz orders placed in person at our Montreal studio. Although we are just now breaking into the international market and our sales for long-distance orders are steadily increasing.
Where in the city can we find your profession?
Our studio is located in the Mile-End on Park Avenue, in a small commercial space that is open only by appointment. We are there mostly full-time but we also spend quite a bit of time in the jewellery district in downtown Montreal sourcing materials and dealing with a lively community of suppliers that we are very lucky to have access to!
What is the best question a prospective customer could ask a member of your profession when comparing services? Give the answer as well.
Q: “Can you make this?”
A: “Absolutely! Anything is doable, and we never turn down a challenge! ”
What is the best part about what you do? What is the worst part?
We love the particularly intimate nature that comes with creating custom jewellery for people. During a consultation, there is necessarily a moment of vulnerability on the client’s part that needs to be met with humanity and sensitivity. They need to be heard, understood, and trust us in our creative process. We cherish those moments of connection with our community.
The worst part might be all the existential crises born out of having to make important business decisions while being riddled with self-doubt and uncertainty. It’s very emotionally challenging but it also brings a lot of personal growth.
Also doing admin work or accounting can be very tedious at times…
What is your favourite joke about your own profession?
That we jewellers make fancy expensive stuff but none of us can actually afford any of it 🙁
Where can we follow you?
Website | Instagram | Tiktok | Linktree
PAY IT FORWARD: What is another local business that you love?
Without a doubt, VERI! The owner/designer, Catherine Veri, is a one-woman powerhouse making beautiful genderless clothing. Truly timeless quality wardrobe staples!
