Jewelers Tell What They Love Most About Their Job

Question:

What Do You Love Most About Your Job?

• The people I have met over the years, both customers and vendors. After 25 years, I have made some great friends. — Michael Kanoff, Michael’s Jewelers, Yardley, PA
• Seeing tears of joy streaming down the face of a customer whose expectations I’ve exceeded. I also love when small children come in to buy a gift with little to no money; being kind and generous is something that they will never forget. I think of how much I would’ve loved to be able to get my parents gifts for the holidays but couldn’t afford more than a card or materials to make a gift. No matter how it came out, my parents treasured it, and every Christmas, the gifts I made came out to mark another year. — Earl Grenfell, Spellbound Fine Jewelry, Port Washington, NY
• The position in the community it allows me to have. — J. Dennis Petimezas, Watchmakers Diamonds & Jewelry, Johnstown, PA
• I love helping people choose the right gift and/or design the gift. I love diamonds and traveling to Belgium. I love IJO and the friends/family I have met through IJO. I love the jewelry business!! — Jae Lehew, S&S Diamonds, New Martinsville, WV
• Talking to the customers! (P.S. – That is also what I dislike about my job at times.) — Debbie Fox, Fox Fine Jewelry, Ventura, CA
• As the manager, I often end up helping customers who have problems with a piece we’ve sold, or a situation that wasn’t handled properly; it is so rewarding when you are able to solve the issue, and they end up leaving happier than they were to begin with. — Lucy Conklin, Toner Jewelers, Overland Park, KS
• The magic in my hands. They never cease to amaze me, creating items of beauty that inspire romance, pride and are cherished! I love, love, love what I do! — Denise Oros, Linnea Jewelers, La Grange, IL
• Customers are what I love, unless it’s that jerk we all get now and then. — Tim Bodis, Diamond Designs by Bodis, Rice Lake, WI
• We are in the happy business! What could be better than that? — Melissa Quick, Steve Quick Jeweler, Chicago, IL
• The photos and videos of our newly engaged couples always make me smile. Those help offset the crazy customers we deal with from time to time. — Jen Hollywood, J Hollywood Designs, Chester Springs, PA
• I love the customers who’ve become friends, and man, I just really f****** love diamonds and gemstones and all. that. sparkle. — Sandra Locken, Sarini Fine Jewellery, Vulcan, AB
• Doing custom design, because you never know what the adventure is like until you are in the thick of it. — Stephen Kolokithas, Jewelry Set In Stone, Chelsea, MI
• The challenge of being successful and making our business great. It is different every day. — Gene Poole, Hudson-Poole Jewelers, Tuscaloosa, AL
• Purchasing, it’s where margins are born. And selling (they go hand in hand). — Robert Borneman, Diamond Jewelers, Centereach, NY
• People come to us to celebrate or lament landmark moments in their lives. They entrust us with their savings to create or choose for them symbols of their love, their family, gifts for weddings, timepieces to honor a family member’s graduation, a piece to lift the spirits of a friend, a loved one’s passing that requires a custom piece. It’s just so much trust. It’s amazing. — Mary Jo Chanski, Hannoush Jewelers, Rutland, VT
• Every single piece of jewelry has a story. I love the stories. I get to be involved in some of the most important events in people’s lives in a very personal, positive and important way. Seeing the joy and all the other emotions that what we do brings out in people is the most rewarding experience I can imagine. — David Phelps, John David Jewelers, Durham, NC
• The joy and satisfaction on a client’s face when they receive or wear a piece of jewelry that we or even I made for them. Some come to tears, and that really gives me warm fuzzies! — Tim Wright, Simply Unique Jewelry Designs, Yorktown, VA