Gold necklace. Platinum chain with gem. Luxury brilliant jewelry pendant or coulomb on transparent background isolated vector illustration for ads, flyers, wed site sale elements design
In episode nine, season three, of Netflix’s Love is Blind, contestants Nancy Rodriguez and Bartiste Bowden walk into Oak Cliff jewelry store Mod + Jo where they order matching infinity bracelets to symbolize their eternal bond.
“This is as permanent as it gets,” Bowden tells his fiancé, as shop owner Jordan Flynn welds together two ends of a dainty gold bracelet (which can be cut off with quality scissors or rewelded for a $10 fee). “We’re locked in now.”
In summer 2021, Flynn and marketing manager Danielle Nezwek received a call from a production company whose representatives had seen one of Mod + Jo’s near-forgotten TikTok videos about the jewelry shop’s services.
“They were quite vague about what they wanted us for at first, until we agreed to work with them,” Flynn says.
As it turned out, Mod + Jo would appear during a mid-series episode of a reality TV program in which contestants meet from individual pods that hide their physical appearance, spend a few episodes “dating” and hopefully fall in love with someone, sight unseen.
Pairs who connect get engaged and, during the last episodes, decide at the altar if they will go through with marriage.
The middle few episodes are spent in the real world, which, in season three, is Dallas.
As the contestants navigate their weird relationships and decide what to do come wedding day, they spend time living together, dancing, drinking and treating one another to gifts.
Enter Mod + Jo. Producers scheduled within a few days of that initial call, once Flynn signed an agreement to not disclose anything overheard or seen during recording until the show aired in late 2022.
“We didn’t know this, but it was kind of their final date before the altar,” Flynn says. In all, the recording took several hours. The shop remained open, with a sign posted on the door notifying customers that filming was underway.
Flynn and Nezwek chuckle about watching themselves on Netflix more than a year later.
“I felt kind of silly, like I didn’t realize it, but I just had this giant grin on my face. I don’t remember smiling like that,” Flynn says. “They would cut and then we would move, cameras and lights and all, and go to the cart where they were getting their jewelry put on.”
Filming took place at Mod + Jo’s Tyler Street store. They have since moved to Bishop Avenue.
Spoiler: Nancy and Bartiste’s love was not as enduring as their bracelets. And while things didn’t go as hoped for the couple at the altar, the effect on business has been fantastic, the owners say.
“We got a good response from being on the show. People still reference it when they come in,” Flynn says. “I feel like we got a really premium section of the show, so we have had people come in wanting the same bracelet as Nancy. And she was really nice to us on social media.”
Love is Blind, streaming on Netflix, dropped three encore episodes in early 2023. The new episodes showcase several recognizable Oak Cliff, West Dallas and East Dallas restaurants and venues.
Mod + Jo, 250 N. Bishop Ave., modandjo.com
