Going coastal.

• Position: EASTERN REGION

From a 100-year-old loft studio overlooking the Pamlico River, Jim Fortescue and his wife, Amy, dream up designs for necklaces, earrings and other jewelry that have been worn by, among others, supermodels. After nearly three decades selling diamond and gold jewelry, the couple had an itch to create a nautical-themed line inspired by the estuaries of Jim Fortescue's hometown of Washington. A jewelry-industry friend offered a suggestion: Why not contact Guy Harvey, an artist and marine biologist best known for his T-shirts featuring game fish and other nautical designs, and see if you can work together?

Soon enough, Fortescue sent examples and designs to Harvey's Florida-based company and a licensing deal was struck. "We were accidentally successful," Fortescue says.

Fortescue learned the craft of jewelry repair at his father's downtown store, Washington Jewelers, which is still in operation after 53 years. He struck out on his own in 1982 and settled into a solid, slow-growing business wholesaling diamond and gold...