Beth Silverberg has led two lives. In her current life, she’s a wholesome grandmother running a jewelry showroom in Wayne called Exceptional Finds, where she curates a stunning collection of limited pieces. In her past life, she was a cutthroat professional poker player, among the best in the world at her peak, appearing on ESPN broadcasts and at two World Series of Poker (WSOP) final tables.
For about a decade and a half, Silverberg was known by a different name and a different persona. Her career earnings totaled somewhere near $500,000, helping to support her true passion: shoes and jewelry.
Silverberg’s Exceptional Finds opened in Wayne several months ago to less fanfare than she received at her former storefront in Bryn Mawr, but that’s by design.
Her new business in Wayne is more secluded, located upstairs at the 101 East building on Lancaster Ave. She sees customers by appointment only, lending a certain exclusivity to her business.
So, are you worthy to meet with the magnificent Silverberg?
The answer to that question is almost always yes. She loves discussing jewelry almost as much as she loves the family she returned to the Main Line to be closer with.
“I love jewelry and I know jewelry. So it just made sense to me to do what I love,” Silverberg shares.
Though this new location is somewhat stripped down from her former Bryn Mawr storefront, it’s no less evident that Silverberg has all the finest collections from the biggest names in the jewelry business.
“I got Spinelli Kilcollin, who I love. I have Graziella, which I’m wearing, which is from Brazil, and they’re beautiful. I mean, sapphires, emeralds, diamonds, they float. So I have them. I have Loquet London…” Silverberg continues.
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Despite her relative newness to the industry, her connections with manufacturers and designers are unmatched in the region. It’s partially thanks to the prestige she built up in her former life that Silverberg can carry the pieces she does, and once a year she returns to Las Vegas during the WSOP for a whiff of that past. That’s where the annual Couture Show is held.
As Silverberg goes from vendor to vendor looking at the year’s finest pieces, she’s constantly reminded of what she’s not doing there. Friends from her poker-playing days will run into her and ask, “‘You’re not playing an event?’ And I’m actually dying to play an event,'” she says.
It seems impossible to balance her two lives, so Silverberg doesn’t try. She hasn’t played a major tournament since 2013, even though she feels the draw to return if even just once.
“It was a life that I would not trade for anything because I loved all the years I played poker, but it was a very hard life,” she remembers.
Silverberg still has pictures in her home office of herself with nearly “every celebrity under the sun,” as she puts it, but it’s not something she could just dip her toes back into casually. These WSOP tournaments are multi-day affairs, some lasting more than a week, it’s not something one can do on a whim.
Being a female in such a male-dominated field as poker has its advantages and disadvantages, and it can be hard for women to forget their gender sitting at a table of mostly unwashed men. As a poker player, Silverberg found ways to use that in her favor.
“A lot of times men didn’t give me the credit that I actually had [a good hand],” she says. “I think in the field I’m in now, it’s easier when it comes to selling jewelry. A lot of the major designers are women. You’re talked to, you’re respected, and they see that my heart is in it.”
Though some of that misogyny is behind her now, it’s gifted her some of the best advice and perspective on running a business and becoming a better person.
“I equate [playing tournaments] to the people that train for marathons. You can’t sprint at the beginning and then think that you’re going to get across the finish line and win. It’s a slow and steady grind, and you have to pace yourself. It’s really taken me far in life, in business, in my thinking,” she shares. “I look at it as a never-give-up kind of attitude that all the years of playing poker gave me.”
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It’s clear Silverberg brings that attitude to Exceptional Finds and has carried it from Bryn Mawr to Wayne. When the old location closed down, she reinvented the concept and, by scaling down, made herself more exclusive and a hotter commodity.
That doesn’t mean she’ll gouge her customers or make anyone feel unwelcome; it’s against the core tenets of her beliefs. Exceptional Finds is constantly involved in charity events and works heavily with the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the Main Line Health women’s board.
With the holidays approaching, Silverberg is beginning to find herself swamped with appointments and requests for help with jewelry for spouses and loved ones. While most of her collection can be found on her website, she has newer items that can be found in-store only. If you’re looking for the perfect piece for that special someone this season, Exceptional Finds might be the right place to end your search.
Exceptional Finds
101 E. Lancaster Ave., Ste. 201, Wayne
Related: Your Guide to Beauty Salons and Spas Around the Main Line
