Mrs. New Jersey Hopeful Joy Cutrone Dishes to JDD about Living Life as a Surviver, Statement Jewelry Aficionado, and Charity Event Planner Extraordinare

Public Figure Jewelry Style Profile at a Glance:

Favorite Jewelry Designer: Tiffany and Company

Personal Inspiration: Annette Funicello
Jewelry Inspiration: Elizabeth Taylor

Personal Style: “the glitz the glam…yes I am”

Have you ever met a statement jewelry wearer who lacked personality? We didn’t think so. That’s why when we spotted New Jersey celeb Joy Cutrone rocking jewels like no other pageant queen we’ve seen before, we knew an interview was in order. Joy holds the title of Mrs. Middlesex County United States 2011 and is a contender in the upcoming 2011 Mrs. New Jersey pageant.

We first were introduced to Joy at New Jersey Fashion Week 2010 when she was chosen to pose for photographer and JDD contributor Kaity Stardust (Cochran) in front of the official NJFW entrance banner. That night she donned her crown along with statement jewels by Yanina and Company.

Although Joy has been extremely busy on the campaign trail lately, she was gracious enough to catch up with us for an interview. True to jewelry enthusiast form, Joy’s charisma and personality shone through glimmeringly in her answers to our questions! Not only did we get the scoop on her favorite jewels and life on the campaign trail, we also found out she’s doing some really amazing charity work! (By the way if you’re a jewelry designer looking for some fun collaborative work, you’ll want to read on to see what else we found out!)

We asked Mrs. Cutrone about her go-to piece of jewelry on the campaign trail. Without hesitation, she described a set of crystal drop round stone earrings. “My other go-to piece which looks great with my tiara and with an everyday dress is my BCBG large blingy bracelet (which she’ll also be rocking on stage the night of the Mrs. New Jersey competition). “...[it] sparkles big.” (We love how she said that!)

All time favorite piece of jewelry? We bet her husband would be proud of this answer. “My favorite piece of jewelry to wear has to definitely be my bridal set.” “For my engagement ring my husband chose very well. He chose a high set gallery ring. Its full of diamonds and is set in platinum. For my bridal set it sits inside a large U shape ring that hugs around the engagement ring…its stunning.”

[Joy Cutrone, Mrs. Middlesex County NJ United States 2011 attends New Jersey Fashion Week 2010.]

No matter where you see Joy, you’re likely to find her wearing statement earrings. Another staple in her jewelry box is an amethyst and diamond princess cut collar necklace that her husband bought her for her birthday. She loves rocking the stage wearing that one (who wouldn’t)! When it comes to jewelry, Joy proclaims that she doesn’t care if something is trendy or not as long as she loves it. She feels that as long as you’re confident wearing a piece it will look great.

Like so many of us, Joy also has those sentimental pieces that she’ll cherish forever. A ballerina cut ring passed down to her by her mother “brought tears to her eyes” when she was honored to receive the gift and she is very connected to larger link men’s chain that her father gave her before he passed away. “It was special to him and it was special to me…I don’t ever remember him without that necklace and when people talk about him they always remember him with that Indian medallion on his neck.”

So aside from rocking some really amazing jewels what has Joy Cutrone, Mrs. Middlesex County United States 2011, been up to? Joy told us she splits her time up between working hard to set a good example for her five children with and without her crown and working to create a non-profit organization that supports victims of Domestic Violence. (Somehow she even squeezes in time to teach children in her NJ dance studio and is preparing to rock the NJFW runway as a petite model – a professed long time dream come true!)

Joy has already done some great work in the Domestic Violence field including creating a high heel walk called “In Her Shoes” to raise awareness and gather donations for emergency response teams in Middlesex County NJ. She also founded a very cool event called “Celebrate You.” “I take a domestic violence survivor, and bring them for whole celebrate you day…makeover, pampering, and a small dinner where we praise her… All of the services are donated by amazing people and businesses.” When asked to play jewelry designer, she explained to us that her soon to be official Domestic Violence charity logo is a purple ribbon with a zebra print high heel. “I would love to design a piece of jewelry to resemble that, and give it to everyone of my Celebrate You survivors. That would just be awesome. If ever given the chance to ever do something like that I would jump,” Joy told JDD.

While many pageant contestants run for more self driven reasons, Joy is vying for Mrs. New Jersey to inspire other women. Joy, who is a self confessed 6 year Domestic Violence Survivor, thought to herself “…how unusual it would be for me…who was actually in hiding still, to show someone or a victim that I could change something.” She admits that she has had several media opportunities since winning her current title and admits that she “doesn’t think people would have really listened to [her] important messages about Domestic Violence if it was not for [her] wearing a crown.”

When we asked Joy if she had any message she wanted to conclude with, instead of saying “vote for me!” She gave us this statement:

        “I love people. I have that just because it’s my nature, and I do things because it’s the right thing to do, not because it gets recognized, or looked upon… I pay it forward as I try to teach my children, we must as humans; pay it forward, because it’s right. I never had it easy, I worked my whole life, struggled through a lot of it, and just because today I might be sailing a bit better or easier, doesn’t mean I always have. I am now on the other side this time, but you can only receive rewards if you give them…I believe that is true beauty. That is the good example we all need to set, and I believe that at the end of the day, it is the perfect accessory.”

You can learn more about the upcoming Mrs. New Jersey pageant or vote for Joy by going to http://www.mrsnewjersey.com/ .