When Dad’s Away…..

My father rarely needs a reason to get away from work, but summertime tends to be the season he feels the least guilty about it. As I write this, he is currently on a cruise of the Adriatic Sea. His first stop is Venice and then he will visit Croatia and Greece. I prefer when my father is six hours ahead of me because my phone tends to stop buzzing after 6:00 PM with texts of beautiful places he is visiting. When he was six hours behind visiting Hawaii, the midnight texts from him were getting on my nerves. “No, Dad, I don’t want to talk about jewelry at midnight on Saturday night!”

Don’t worry though, his kids are more than capable of holding down the fort. Some people don’t realize that my brother Andrew began to apprentice under my father’s tutelage at the tender age of 10 years old. He is currently 32 years of age and already has over 20 years experience as a goldsmith. We remember always growing up with a jeweler’s bench situated in our home somewhere. Jewelry truly is in our blood. So with me at the front of the house and my brother safely ensconced in the back of the house, we quietly chug along through the doldrums of summer.

People who don’t live here year-round have a hard time understanding how busy it gets during season. The sheer volume of repairs we receive each day boggles the mind. Not to mention the watches. I get over 30 watches per day sometimes. Thirty times per day I have to explain why I do not change watch batteries while you wait. If I interrupted my brother or father 30 times in a day while they are restoring fine jewelry or setting diamonds, I would be six feet under. There are always exceptions, of course; we aim to please and if we are experiencing a lull, sometimes they will pop one in for me. But to stay efficient, we tend to collect the whole day’s worth of watches and do them all at once. The majority of people understand, and I am grateful for that!

Here’s a funny story that illustrates nicely how you can’t make everybody happy. One day, a couple of women walk into the store, and I greet them in my usual fashion. They examine all of my silver nautical jewelry and stop in front of the silver Lafonn jewelry line. She asks me, “Where is all of your silver jewelry?” I explained she had found it and told her about the Lafonn line she was looking at. She said, “Well, I don’t like anything!” I really didn’t know quite how to respond to that, but managed to tell her, “Okay, have a nice day!” She left in a huff. I had to laugh because you really can’t make this stuff up. Go spread your cheer someplace else, lady!!! Not a day goes by without a compliment regarding all of the beautiful items we carry, so this was certainly an anomaly, and I chuckle at the memory of that encounter. I wonder if she ever found anything!

Beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder. Everybody’s taste differs. Some items look like nothing on the display until you try it on. Diamonds can be deceiving as well. That giant rock in the showcase may catch your eye, but it may be overwhelming on your finger. Even the color of the gold may not suit you. I tried on a rose gold and Morganite ring recently that I loved. It did nothing on my finger. My coworker has a more olive undertone, and it suited her perfectly. Summertime is the perfect time to come in and browse, try things on and maybe add a new look to your collection. I’m looking to clear out space for new inventory, so let’s make a deal!

Take advantage of our 10% off jewelry repairs for the remainder of the summer. It will be honored through July and August. Just a reminder, we will be closed all of September this year to rest and rejuvenate and retool for a prosperous fall and winter.