Vintage Diamond Engagement Rings
Kidney stones to gemstones, jeweler is downtown
diamond engagement rings
Commentary by Mark L. Olson November
22, 2006 found at greeleytrib.com
Jewelry is full of contradictions.
Diamonds are hard, love is soft.
Affection is free, gems are not.
Keepsakes are kept, sweethearts may sour.
Carl Moore of Wm. Moore Jewelers in downtown Greeley is a
contradiction, too.
Vintage Diamond Engagement Rings Recycled.
Carl says that 75 percent of his business is taking
"a bag of jewelry and making something out of it." At any one time,
he's working on 60 special projects -- and he absolutely loves it.
Betty Tointon, owner of Antiques at Lincoln Park, knows
Carl's work firsthand. "I wanted to preserve my mother's wedding set and
after Carl showed me a drawing of what he had in mind and then seeing the
finished product, I was absolutely thrilled. It was such a wonderful
surprise."
Carl took Betty's Vintage Diamond Engagement Rings
and fashioned a heart-shaped pendant, which was divided in half, and united with
a diamond from her mother's engagement ring. He also used a free-flowing line to
create a subtle cross at the top of the heart, a cross Betty's father would have
appreciated. He was a minister, a fact Carl discovered when he asked Betty about
her parents. This inquisitiveness allowed Carl to use just the right touch on
each of his creations.
The right touch, however, means satisfying some unusual
requests. One customer requested a locket to house his kidney stones. And Carl
has made several lockets to keep the ashes of loved ones. One pendant was formed
using teeth from a customer's beloved dog.
Another source of pride is his railroad-grade pocket
watches, one of the largest collections in the nation. The time pieces, made by
Hamilton, were used to keep the trains running on time. In 1942, a Hamilton
watch sold for $68. Today, Hamiltons fetch $4,500. Plus, the boxes the watches
came in were made of Bakelite, a forerunner of plastic. They now sell for up to
$3,500!
Carl is ready for the holiday season, and it should be a
good one, according to the jewelry experts. Retail jewelers in America typically
generate about one-third of their annual sales and up to 100 percent of their
yearly profits during November and December. And this year, authorities say
jewelry sales should be up 4 percent to 5 percent with expected total sales
exceeding the $20 billion mark.
So while Carl may have a very happy financial season, he
won't have it at the expense of dissatisfied customers -- that's not a
contradiction, just superior customer service that glistens like a diamond.
Mark L. Olson is executive director of Greeley's Downtown
Development Authority.
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