La CaƱada Valley Sun, CA
Sept 23 2004
A Relationship as Gleaming as the Jewelry in the Store
Josephine Matosian met and married her husband Manuel in Baghdad.
Both of their families had settled in Middle Eastern countries after
escaping from Armenia during the Diaspora. When a Matosian daughter
married an American service man, she helped the family settle here in
the Foothills. Sossi Matosian Bagham, remembers their first home in
Sparr Heights.
Today all six Matosian siblings live and work locally. Josephine, the
matriarch of the family, moved to Montrose, after the passing of her
husband. The family members worship together at the Armenian
Apostolic Church of La Crescenta Valley in Tujunga.
Gretchen and I met Sossi one day this summer, as we were scurrying
down Foothill Boulevard on our way to an appointment. Rushing by the
windows of Sossi’s store, we both stopped dead in our tracks,
mesmerized by the display of modern, Italian-influenced jewelry.
Sossi buzzed us into the store for a closer look at her designs.
Sossi’s fraternal twin Marian, who owns Hair Profile in La CaƱada, is
10 minutes older, making Sossi the youngest of the six children.
Sossi said, “Because we didn’t look alike, I felt like we were
sisters, rather than twins.” The two girls had a close connection,
“If anyone hurt Marian I’d feel it myself, I was so over-protective.”
When I asked Sossi how she met her husband, she laughed, “What a
story,” she exclaimed. “I was 16 when we met. He was 21. There was an
immediate chemistry.” Sossi saw Jack Bagham at an Armenian youth
group party. She said to her friend, “That’s my dream guy. I know
he’ll be my husband.” Her friend replied, “Sossi, you’re out of
control,” but he arranged an introduction between the two. As Jack
shook hands with Sossi, he slipped her a piece of paper with his
phone number on it. She refused his invitation to dance, citing the
strict code of her parents. She was not allowed to date. Sossi took
the paper home and waited three months, before she found an excuse to
call Jack.
That phone call set in motion a series of events that eventually
resulted in Jack and Sossi’s successful jewelry business, a home in
Oakmont and two lovely daughters, Tatiyana, 17, and Taleen, 15. Both
girls are students at CVHS.
Sossi also graduated from CVHS. In high school, Sossi’s favorite
classes were creative. She liked to sew, draw and cook. She showed me
her first design, a plastic key chain she still uses. She made it at
a store in Montrose when she was 13.
Jack told Sossi he was a jeweler at their first meeting. She called
to ask him if he could make a pendant set with 3 to 4 diamonds,
according to a design she’d sketched. Jack invited her to come to his
store in Glendale. Over the years, Jack brought to life many of
Sossi’s designs. She wore them at work in her first job as a
part-time teller at Bank of America. Her co-workers admired her
designs. Sossi sent them to Jack. Meanwhile she studied gemology and
took college business classes.
As the years passed, Jack and Sossi’s jewelry-based relationship
blossomed into romance. When she was about 19, Jack gave Sossi a
promise ring during a dinner at Yamashiro. Four years later the
couple married.
Sossi juggles a busy schedule, working full-time with a staff of 11
employees. She opened her La CaƱada store three years ago. Jack
handles the wholesale end of the business. Sossi’s designs are
carried by jewelry stores nationally and featured on her Web site,
Gretchen admired the solid weight of Sossi’s rings and took a liking
to one ring in particular. She admitted to Sossi that she hasn’t
found her future husband yet, but she knew she’d found her engagement
ring. I tried on a ring with an aquamarine stone. The setting is so
unusual. It appears as though no prongs hold the stone. The surface
of the gem seems to slide off into the horizon like an infinity
swimming pool. I said, “I don’t know if you have a name for this
design, but I am dubbing it the Infinity Ring.”
Sossi cooks every evening for the family, preferring to serve light,
healthy Mediterranean cuisine. Sossi described her cooking as
“gourmet galore.” Tatiyana, an equestrian, studies with Leslie Figge
at the L.A. Children’s Riding Center. When the parent group of LACRC
held a luncheon recently at the Flintridge Riding Academy, they asked
Sossi to make buffalo wings and shrimp-tomato risotto. Both dishes
were deemed delicious.
At home, when Sossi finds a minute to relax, she plays with Missy, a
7-year-old teacup Maltese. “When I look into her eyes, I see
kindness, unconditional love. She’s my shadow.” Sossi’s joy in
animals and nature is reflected in her designs. Sossi was named after
a mythical goddess of the forest. She explained, “I create from the
stone and build the setting around it. I am inspired by the ocean, by
melting ice.
There’s no shortage of beautiful jewelry in our local stores, but
Sossi’s creations are unique. When I looked closer at the photo I
borrowed to accompany this column, I was disappointed to find Sossi’s
hands are bare; she wasn’t wearing one of her own glorious creations.
You’ll have to take a moment to drop by her store, to see the
artistry of Sossi’s work for yourself. Before you go, try her recipe
for tomato shrimp risotto.
Sossi’s notes on her recipe describe the benefits of cooking with
shrimp. She says shrimp is quick and easy to prepare, an excellent
source of iron, low in saturated fat and calories, and a good source
of protein. Sossi Jewelry Collection is located at 827 Foothill Blvd.
in La CaƱada. Call 330-2312. The store is open Monday through Friday
from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturdays by appointment only.
www.sossicollection.com.