Ben Bridge Jeweler, Seattle, WA
PRESIDENT AND CEO: Lisa Bridge; FOUNDED: 1912; Opened featured location: 2023; STORE DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION: RGLA Solutions; Henderson Engineers and Wallace Structural Design Engineers; EMPLOYEES: 450; AREA: 5,315 square feet; TOP BRANDS: Rolex, Tudor, Breitling, Cartier, Patek Philippe, Longines, Tag Heuer, Roberto Coin, Mikimoto, David Yurman, Grand Seiko. Ben Bridge-owned brands: Ikuma, Bella Ponte, Toscano, Lisa Bridge, Signature.; ONLINE PRESENCE: 20,000 Instagram followers; 179,000 Facebook followers; total locations: 36
Lisa Bridge
IN 2023, BEN BRIDGE Jeweler opened a flagship store in downtown Seattle, just blocks from where Samuel Silverman founded the company in 1912. This recommitment to Seattle’s core wasn’t just a homecoming — it was a bold statement about the future of retail in a challenging urban landscape.
“We believe deeply in the importance of a thriving downtown and placed a big bet on opening our flagship at a time when many retail businesses were leaving,” says CEO Lisa Bridge, fifth-generation company leader. “It has been gratifying to see such a big project come to fruition and be successful. We’ve been downtown for a long time.”
The flagship store serves as a beacon of hope for downtown Seattle retail, which has faced challenges since the pandemic with the slow return of tech workers to offices. “Someone made a comment the day we opened that that was the day the city came back to life,” Bridge recalls. “The store has been successful and continues to grow year over year. Hopefully that is a harbinger of good things for the city.”
Northwest-Inspired Design
The store immerses customers in a uniquely Northwest experience, incorporating natural elements that reflect Seattle’s environment — stone, wood, geodes, and even moss.
“I really wanted the store to feel uniquely Ben Bridge,” Bridge explains. “To have a sense of place, to make it distinctive. It does feel Northwest-y.
There’s a more relaxed environment to the city. The materials we used feel like Seattle, upscale and yet comfortable.”
Front and center are wood vitrines carved from local tree slices with flower-like rounded edges. There’s a live-edge case at another of the store’s entrances. A collection of blown-glass art pieces pays tribute to Seattle’s reputation for excellence in the artform.
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Bridge’s decision to incorporate moss raised eyebrows but achieved her goal: “Clean edges and metal can feel very cold, and our company and our team are anything but cold. They are warm and generous. We’ve incorporated large geodes to call to mind how our jewelry comes to be. It’s a subtle nod that things in here come from the earth.”
The Ben Bridge team wanted the space to feel dynamic, a place where people would want to spend time, suitable for both intimate moments and larger events. For the grand-opening celebration, they created an immersive experience highlighting the global sources of their jewelry and watches. Visitors who “traveled” to each regional display received stamps on their passports and were entered into a drawing for a piece of jewelry.
“We created five distinct geographic zones featuring relevant food and beverages,” Bridge explains. “For example, our pearls are sourced from Japan, so that section had mini mochi donuts and a sake cocktail. Our Swiss watch area had Swiss chocolate and cheeses. We celebrated our hometown with Seattle dogs, oysters and espresso martinis.”
Wood vitrines are carved from slices of local trees, lending an organic feel to the Seattle store, which Lisa Bridge describes as Northwest-y.
Family Values, Modern Evolution
Founded as Silverman’s in 1912 when Samuel Silverman opened his first store, the business evolved when Samuel’s daughter Sally married Ben Bridge, laying the foundation for what would become one of America’s best known jewelry retailers.
Ben Bridge’s success stems from maintaining core values while embracing change. “We know deeply who we are at Ben Bridge and hold close to that. We also recognize we have to evolve to meet the expectations of our customers,” Bridge says.
This balance of tradition and innovation extends to leadership transitions. “Each family member has turned over the business relatively early in their lives,” Bridge notes. “When my dad and my grandfather stepped back, it wasn’t for lack of passion and vision, but a recognition that the company needed to move in new directions.”
The company’s offerings have evolved dramatically over its 113-year history. “Dad’s first big sale was a typewriter. We have sold room dividers. A watchmaker shared space with an optician,” Bridge shares.
She recounts a colorful story from her grandfather’s era when a marketing agency renting adjacent space brought a circus monkey to the store. When a Bridge ancestor climbed up to reach something from a top shelf, “he grabbed a hairy leg, the monkey came over and began swinging from the chandelier.
I’m happy we don’t have any monkeys in the store today!” she says.
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The company’s growth accelerated when Ben’s sons Herb and Bob opened a second store in the early 1950s, sending their best sales associate — not a family member — to lead it. “We realized if you have great people, and you truly delegate to them, then you can grow,” Bridge explains. By the 1960s, they began expanding into malls and street corners across the West.
The modern-day flagship store includes a Rolex shop-in-shop. Ben Bridge employs more certified gemologists and in-house watchmakers than any other jewelry company worldwide, Bridge says, ensuring exceptional product knowledge and service.
The company’s buyers travel the world to purchase unique heirloom-quality pieces. Their Toscano collection, for example, features work from more than 60 Italian gold artisans with whom their fashion buyer has cultivated direct relationships over years.
In 2000, Ben Bridge became part of Berkshire Hathaway while remaining family-run. “It’s been a wonderful organization to be a part of,” Bridge says.
“Warren [Buffet] told my father he should continue to build the business as if it’s his family’s only asset for the next three generations. That gave us the empowerment to continue to feel like it’s our business. Berkshire is quite hands off. It still feels like a family business.”
People-First Culture
The company’s hiring philosophy focuses on finding associates who love both jewelry and people. “One key to keeping people engaged is making sure they
are seen and celebrated,” Bridge says.
This happens through daily executive check-in calls to every store. “Every night, someone on our executive team calls every single store to check in on the day and talks to whoever happens to answer the phone. It could be your second day in the company and now you’re talking to the CFO. The purpose of the call is to celebrate great sales or to put your arm around someone who had a tough day.”
Recognition is formalized through programs such as anniversary diamonds, awarded every five years of service. “Every fifth anniversary, everyone gets a diamond, and it gets larger for every five-year increment of service. We hand them out at holiday parties. I was able to hand out a 50-year diamond to a manager.”
The company hosts in-person manager meetings three times annually and biennial retreats that include significant others (most recently in Hawaii). Associates can purchase jewelry slightly above cost, making them “the best advertisements for our product.”
“We have a very strong culture, and that cultural piece is essential to our success,” Bridge emphasizes. “The right people find us and they stick with us.”
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“Your Personal Jeweler”
Ben Bridge prides itself on being “Your Personal Jeweler,” understanding the significance of life’s milestones, whether it’s curating the ideal engagement ring or selecting a luxury watch meant to be handed down through generations.
“Customers want to deal with someone they know, like and trust,” Bridge says. “That’s an independent jeweler who is part of the community, who is a part of people’s lives and can connect. It’s a complicated time for any business. But I think that through relationships and connection, we’ll be able to be successful into the future.”
This personal connection resonates with customers.
One customer shared that her family has shopped at Ben Bridge for three generations because “Ben was the first person to give my grandfather credit,” highlighting the company’s early days offering “a dollar down and a dollar a week.”
“It’s a fun business, it’s a happy business,” Bridge reflects. “Getting to be a part of people’s lives is incredibly meaningful. We get to see our customers and families grow and change and be a part of special moments in their lives.”
Five Cool Things About Ben Bridge Jeweler
1. Technology Innovation. Their proprietary Bella Ponte bridal brand uses hologram technology in the design process. “Starting with a napkin sketch of a design, hologram technology helps them envision what that will look like. They can see their ring in 3D, make it larger or smaller and move it in any direction,” Bridge explains. Customers can track creation through QR codes that show each step of the manufacturing process.
2. Community Impact. The flagship store dedicates space to highlighting nonprofit organizations, starting with recipients of $110,000 in grants awarded for the company’s 110th anniversary. “We strive to be leaders in our community and use our store to host events for non-profits that we support,” Bridge says.
3. Digital Engagement. Ben Bridge won the second annual Metaverse Fashion Week, competing against major brands like Adidas and Tommy Hilfiger with a virtual store that kept visitors engaged for an average of 14 minutes. Visitors could earn different diamond-adorned outfits and accessories for their own avatars by completing various quests. The store was designed to feel somewhat familiar to actual Ben Bridge locations, creating a bridge between virtual and physical retail experiences.
4. Industry Advocacy. Ben Bridge works with national publishers to boost the jewelry industry’s positioning. In 2023, they took high-profile editors to visit an ethical diamond mine in Botswana. Ben Bridge’s leadership in the industry was specifically recognized when the company won the GEM Award for retail excellence in March 2024.
5. Customer Experiences. The company collaborated with the Seattle Seahawks on “the Ultimate
Proposal Sweepstakes,” where winners received a $30,000 custom engagement ring and the opportunity to propose in the Seahawks stadium.
PHOTO GALLERY (7 IMAGES)
Try This: Tell the Story of Diamond Sourcing
Ben Bridge created the first traceable diamond brand (Ikuma) 23 years ago and uses recycled gold in its Bella Ponte bridal line. “Being from the Northwest, we’re quite connected to the environment,” Bridge explains. “Canadian discoveries of diamonds allowed for a unique story to be told, to share about these mines that created jobs for communities that needed industries and from the beginning had a plan for how it would look at the end.” The company continues pushing for transparency: “People do care. They love to hear the full story of their diamonds.”
