Wellington & Company Fine Jewelry

Wellington & Co. Fine Jewelry’s team of jewelry associates possesses more than half a century of antique, estate and contemporary fine jewelry knowledge and sales experience. At Wellington & Co. our passion for what we do, combined with our store’s warm and inviting atmosphere in the heart of New Orleans’ historic French Quarter enables us to provide visitors from around the world with a unique and inviting shopping experience unlike any other

Thomas Whisnant, the principal owner and exclusive buyer for Wellington & Company Fine Jewelry, brings more than 15 years of jewelry and sales knowledge to the business and is the product of a long line of French Quarter merchants with a passion for antiques and jewelry. Tom is the third generation of the Whisnant family to own his own store on historic Royal Street in the heart of the Vieux Carre. While the Whisnant name has been synonymous with quality antiques and jewelry in New Orleans for decades, Tom grew up in Baton Rouge where he graduated from Louisiana State University. An entrepreneur from the start, Tom started his first small business while he was still in college and began buying and selling antiques and antique jewelry on a small scale. It was the first substantial piece of antique furniture that Tom ever sold—a fabulous old English Wellington chest-- which became the inspiration for the name of the now successful “Wellington & Company Fine Jewelry” which we know today. Beyond college, Tom spent 5 years gaining valuable experience in sales, management and jewelry buying as a member of the management team of a major modern jeweler with a chain of stores throughout the Gulf South. Tom is a graduate gemologist with certification from the Gemological Institute of America—the trade’s foremost credentialing body when it comes to the education of gemologists and the grading and certification of stones in the jewelry industry. After working for a couple of years for his family’s antique store Whisnant Galleries, Tom decided to venture out on his own. Wellington & Company opened the doors of its first retail location at 505 Royal Street in the heart of the French Quarter in October of 2003 and the rest is history

Brandy Whisnant grew up in Baton Rouge, LA and graduated from Louisiana State University. With more than 10 years of jewelry, sales and professional experience in fundraising/development, marketing and philanthropic board work, Brandy oversees the store’s marketing and corporate gift line. The corporate gift line is responsible for the design of custom made pins for carnival krewes, company logos and regional festivals such as the sterling silver lapel pin/pendant that Wellington & Co. designed for the French Quarter Festival in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. When Brandy is not on the sales floor, she spends her time representing Wellington & Company in community endeavors. Embracing the motto, “live right and give back at each and every turn, for it will come back to you tenfold if you are sincere” Brandy sees that the store is giving to worthwhile causes. Brandy is an avid volunteer in the New Orleans community serving as an active member of the Junior League of New Orleans, a board member of Start the Adventure in Reading (STAIR), a board member of the French Quarter Business Association, member of the Kappa Kappa Gamma alumnae association, a founding member of the Krewe of Muses, member of the French Quarter Women Business Association, and member of the Louise McGehee Parents League.