OFF THE CUFF : Delicate Maneuvers
R on Cohan has owned Zia Jewelry, a gallery of contemporary Southwest jewelry and art across from the old Mission in San Juan Capistrano, for 18 years. Because he works most holidays--traditionally big gift-giving times--he says he thinks of most of his regular customers as family. One woman brings him cookies every Christmas, and some send cards on Valentine’s Day and his birthday.
Zia is a non-traditional jewelry store, known for colorful, dramatic pieces. “It’s the place to go to get that zip in your look,” says Cohan, “not where you go to get a watch battery.”
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There are three big misconceptions about the jewelry business.
People have a belief that jewelry is indestructible, and that if they pay a lot of money for it, nothing should every happen to it. But the very thing that makes jewelry beautiful is its delicateness.
It’s made with delicate metals, gold and silver. They are soft, malleable metals, not steel or lead. Tiny little channels or prongs hold gems in place, not big clamps. And gemstones are frail; even diamonds will shatter with force.
Jewelry is valuable because of its beauty and delicateness. It’s fragile and needs to be treated with care.
The second misconception is that people should wear the same piece of jewelry forever. No one would wear the same outfit or hairstyle forever, nor would someone drive the same car or live in the same house forever. We get tired of things, and things get old; they deteriorate and go out of style.
You’ll actually like your jewelry more if you put it away for a while, or maybe you should give it away so it will be new to someone else.
I think the third misconception is that there is a very high markup in jewelry. Business is very competitive, especially in California. There are more jewelry stores here than in the rest of the country put together.
People are good shoppers. A jeweler can’t charge excessive markups and not have someone a block away undercut him. If anyone can afford to sell it for less, they will.
What makes me grit my teeth in this business is when a woman returns a gift and makes a big deal out of the fact that her husband made a bad choice and shouldn’t have bought her the item. It’s so hard in this macho world for a lot of men to express their love, and sometimes buying jewelry is the only way they can do it. It just crushes them when the lady brings it back.
I know that she will never receive another piece of jewelry from him for the rest of her life. He will never make that mistake again.
The better solution is that if you receive something that’s not to your taste, shop with him. Put it on your finger and point to it and say, “I love this.” Bring pictures home that show what you want. Give him ideas.
Some of the joy of working in and running a jewelry store is I get to meet a lot of people who have been married a long time. Some are celebrating an anniversary of 30 or 50 years--and it’s interesting to me because I’ve been married two years, and I want my marriage to last, so I ask these couples what’s their secret. All the answers revolve around the concept of compromise.
