76 years ago, on Wednesday, April 1, 1931, in the
depths of the Depression, Frederick W. Gleim opened
the door to his jewelry store in an arcade next to the
Stanford Theatre in downtown Palo Alto. He had been
laid off from his job as a watchmaker and, unable to
find work, borrowed $500 and bought inventory from a
store which had gone bankrupt.
That original ledger book, which we still have, shows
the grand total of sales for that first day: zero. The next
day he sold a wrist band for $5.00, and did a repair for
$.35. (That same day he spent ten cents on stamps,
thirty five cents on a ledger book, and forty cents on
watch crystals. The ledger book, incidentally, came
from Congdon & Crome, Stationers, which still exists
in downtown Palo Alto.) Saturday, April 4, was a big
day: $16.45. His son Arthur, 15 at the time, helped out
from the start, and you can see his handwriting
keeping track of sales and work throughout much of
this ledger.
 Click image for larger view
Most days there is a note about the weather; it rained
on Christmas of 1931, for instance. In fact, it seems
to have rained much of December. That first year in
business our store did nearly $7000 in business...for
the entire year. But Fred Gleim, as he was known,
was a talented jeweler, watchmaker and engraver,
and not only managed to keep the doors open but to
gradually increase sales.
If he were to come back today to see how it has
grown, he may not recognize it as the same
business. But what he would recognize would be the
important things he taught his son Arthur: know your
business, know the merchandise, and make things
right for your customer. Everyone makes mistakes,
and we are not immune. But we will do everything we
can to correct those mistakes and observe this golden
rule: treat our customers the way we would want to be
treated ourselves. That’s a philosophy which has
stood us well for three quarters of a century.
| Stay Tuned for an Exciting Estate Event! |
 |
|
"Just a small sampling of this exciting collection
of jewelry."
I am pleased to announce that Gleim the Jeweler
has been able to consign a large collection of
diamond and gemstone jewelry from a client, thanks
to a referral from the aforementioned jewelers’ group.
This collection, nearly 200 pieces in all, consists of
rings, bracelets, earrings, necklaces...clearly
treasured by a woman who loved jewelry. We are
readying it for stock now, and will announce its
unveiling at our Los Altos store sometime in April with
a special edition of our Jewelry News.
|
| April Birthstones |
|
|
As the April birthstone, diamonds are the ideal gift
for a loved one. And now you have more choices than
ever. Get creative and give the ultimate gift of beauty: a
fancy-color diamond. Fancy-color diamonds are
natural, rare and truly exotic gems of the earth.
Diamonds in hues of yellow, red, pink, blue, and
green range in intensity from faint to vivid and
generally the more saturated the color, the higher the
value. In fact, diamonds sparkling with intense color
are rare and may be priced higher than a colorless
diamond of equal size. Because fancy-color
diamonds are very desirable, color is sometimes
introduced in a laboratory. These are correctly called
color-treated diamonds. When purchasing a fancy-
color diamond, the shopper should ask if any
enhancements or treatments were used to improve its
color and/or clarity.
|
| Community Events |
|
|
Gleim the Jeweler was pleased to donate a pearl
necklace to the annual fundraiser for the Junior
League of the Mid Peninsula. We also donated a
necklace to the annual fundraiser for Castilleja
School, an event which coincided with my Hong Kong
trip so I was unable to attend for the first time in
several years.
|
| Hong Kong Pictures |
|
|
 Members of the Jewelers' Research Group
preparing
to enter the Hong Kong Jewelry Show.
 View of Hong Kong Harbor
|
|
Hong Kong Trip |
|
|
|
I had the opportunity to travel to Hong Kong in
early March to attend the Hong Kong International
Jewelry Show with a consortium of leading US retail
jewelers. This group, whose members help each
other throughout the year with management and
merchandising questions, felt it was important to
actually visit the show, as well as a manufacturing
facility in China, to learn more about the benefits
which might be realized from establishing more direct
contacts with Asian manufacturers. It was a most
interesting trip which should yield benefits in the future
from the contacts established. There is some
exquisite jewelry of very high quality being made in
Hong Kong and China; with selective purchasing, this
trip will help us develop some unique collections
which will present very good values to our customers.
And what is this consortium of jewelers who gets
together every year? It is a group of 14 retail jewelry
stores from different parts of the country, some of the
finest in the industry. All stores are similar to ours in
that we are full-service jewelers dealing in the highest
caliber of gemstones, jewelry and timepieces. We
open our books to each other, and make every effort to
tour the other member stores in order to give
constructive criticism and to learn from each other. It
is an extraordinary group which has resulted in
lifelong friendships. It has also had significant effect
on the US jewelry industry. From its ranks have come
multiple American Gem Society Presidents, two
Chairs of the American Gem Society Laboratory,
multiple winners of the Robert M. Shipley Award, and
multiple chairs of and members of the Board of
Directors of the Gemological Institute of America. As a
matter of fact, this group was instrumental in the very
survival of the GIA, lending financial support when the
GIA was about to go under during the Depression. It
is an honor for Gleim’s to have been a member for
over thirty years, and the group has contributed much
to our business. It benefits you, our customers, as it
expands our networking through a group of trusted
and knowledgeable jewelers, and raises the bar for
what we expect of ourselves.
|
Do you know anyone who may want to read this e-newsletter or subscribe to receive the Jewelry News from Gleim the Jeweler, e-newsletters? If so, click on "Forward this email to a friend" link below.
|
To ensure that you
continue to receive emails from us, add
georgie@gleimjewelers.com to your address book.
Click image for larger view
