All Teresa Havens wanted one Christmas was a manicure tool set and a box to put it in, she said to her husband Eddie. So he set out to the local Dillards Departpment store to fine one- on Christmas Eve- having been too busy to shop before then because of gift demands at his custom jewlery shop.

Eddie Havens scoured the crowded store for hours until he found precisely what his wife had wanted. "When he found what I asked for, he couldn't find his car Teresa Havens said. " He didn't know there were two Dillards in the mall. The jeweler finally made it home around 10:30 that night. Tired and frustrated, Eddie slung the unwrapped manicure set onto the table and told his wife, "Merry Christmas."

"The next morning, I didn't have anythinf to open, and he felt bad", Teresa Havens said. "So, on Christmas morning, he went to the shop and made a pair of diamond stud earrings for me! I have a very romantic husband".

Anyone takes a glance around Eddie Havens's recently opened custom jewelry shop, The Jewelry Studio on U.S. 51 in Ridgeland, could probably see he's quite the romantic. From soft yellow walls covered in Thomas Kinkade paintings to spot lighting to smooth jazz music in the background, it's not your run- of -the-mill jewelry store.

That was Eddie Havens' intention.

" I wanted it to be comfortable, warm and inviting- an atmosphere of beautiful paintings and fine diamond jewelry without the noise in the background, the fast pace of the shopping center or the pressure of the salesperson trying to get the sale." Eddie Havens prides himself on taking time to investigate each customer's jewelry needs, preferably over coffee or a glass of wine while sitting on comfortable furniture in his shop.

The experience is just as important as the sale, he said.

"I can put on her favorite CD. If she enjoys a little glass of wine, bring a bottle of wine," he said. "We can sit here and look at diamonds, draw up sketches while she's listening to her favorite artists, and we can have the evening stictly for her."

A Louisiana native, Eddie Havens has been involved in the fine jewlery business since 1982. He started as a sales associate for a mall jewelry store. During the downtime at the sales counter, he would probe the head jeweler with questions about how to cut, weld and shape gold, He began learning the science of gemstones (Gemology). He learned the art of stone setting and wax carving.

With a torch , saw and a few other tools, he began to experiment with jewlery-making in his garage.

What started as a job quickly became a passion. The jeweler opened his own shop after more that two decades of working in someone elses store. Eddie Havens has since made his wife's and stepdaughters bridal sets, a 14-karat gold egg and earrings, necklaces and bracelets galore. He made a 3 carat engagement ring for his longtime friend Mark Pellegrin's wife that turns heads, Pellegrin said. " He put an absoultley fine ring together that had small diamond clusters, a number of baquettes and a marquis diamond that sites right on top." he said. " we got engaged at the Beau Rivage before Katrina. " Everyone in the place was drooling over it!" "Eddie is gifted, and he's passionate," said Leesburg resident Pam Hamilton, a customer. " And his passion comes through in every piece."