Ridgewood jeweler picked for poker champ bracelet

New York - A longtime Ridgewood jeweler played the right card and was chosen to craft a $7,500 bracelet which will be awarded to the winner of an Atlantic City-based poker championship that takes place in early October.

Jordan Eddi, founder of AJ's Jewelry in Ridgewood and YouDesignWeCreate.com, said he was selected to custom design the 14k gold bracelet by the 2007 U.S. Poker Championship, which will take place in Atlantic City at the Trump Taj Mahal casino. The tournament's winner will be awarded $1 million and Eddi's bracelet when the event culminates on Oct. 6, he said.

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"This is by far one of the highlights of my career as a jewelry manufacturer," said Eddi, a Long Island resident who has owned and operated AJ's at 57-44 Myrtle Ave. for 19 years.

The Cuban link bracelet, weighing 2.9 ounces, contains a total of three-quarters of a carat weight in diamonds, Eddi said. The winner of the tournament will be able to choose whether they want the bracelet in white or yellow gold, he said.

But this is not the first time that Eddi has created jewelry for a gambling competition. He previously made a poker bracelet for a tournament held by the Feather Falls Casino in California and is currently in talks with another casino in the southern part of that state to craft a piece of jewelry for a similar competition.

"I'm creating a niche for my company by creating jewelry for these poker tournaments," he said. "And it's been starting to spiral."

Eddi said he is currently developing a line of personalized poker and tournament jewelry for men and women, including pins, rings, pendants, necklaces, bracelets and earrings.

Many of these items are available at the YouDesignWeCreate Web site or at his store.

His Myrtle Avenue location specializes in sports, award, hip-hop, nameplate, tournament and custom jewelry.

The USPC tournament was first held in 1996 and regularly draws many of the world's top poker players.

Nathan Duke Times Ledger

News Added: 28 September, 2007

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