Our summer at Gleim the Jeweler...
If you live in the Palo Alto area, you are probably aware
of the July 1st fire in the building on University and
Bryant, which housed Walgreen's, next door to the
building our downtown store is in. The 4-alarm arson-
caused fire destroyed Walgreen's; over one
million gallons of water were used in preventing its
spread to neighboring businesses, flooding the
basement of both our store and our neighbors'.
Our store had no fire damage, but recovering from
the water damage has been a lengthy process.
We were without power for some time, so we had to
relocate our accounting, inventory and shipping
departments, along with their computers, to our
Stanford store and to a downtown office for several
weeks. The water and flooded supplies had to be
removed from the basement, and the watersoaked
basement walls had to be removed and rebuilt.
Our jewelry, of course, was immediately relocated to
our other two stores, at Stanford Shopping Center and
in Los Altos. Our carpet, damaged by the hoses
pumping out the water, was replaced. I am pleased to
announce that we were able to reopen on August 20.
The Walgreen's building is nearing the end of the
process of being torn down; even as I write this, I can
feel our building shake on occasion when a large
piece of concrete is moved.
As challenging as this process has been, it is obvious
that it could have been so much worse, and we
owe a huge debt of gratitude to the Palo Alto Fire
Department, the Palo Alto Police Department, and the
City of Palo Alto for everything they have done not
only in fighting the fire itself but also to help our
businesses get back to normal as quickly as possible.
| Athena Award |
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In the middle of the process of bringing our business
back to normal, I was very honored to receive this
year's Athena Award, sponsored by the Palo Alto
Chamber of Commerce. This award recognizes
those who "demonstrate excellence in their business
or profession, devote time and energy to their
community in a meaningful way, and generously
assist women in attaining their full potential." The list
of previous winners is humbling, and it's a thrill to be
included in their midst. And I was especially pleased
to have my family there, not only my husband George
Schumann, but also my parents, Arthur and Marjorie
Gleim. Many of you know that my father has been ill
with cancer, and it was wonderful to know he was able
to attend the lunch. (And I must say he had a very
good time!) Many thanks to all those friends and
colleagues who were there to help celebrate.
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| Motorworks Revival at the Monterey Jet Center |
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Once again we had the honor of participating in
the McCall Motorworks Revival party at the Monterey
Jet Center, held on the Wednesday before the Pebble
Beach Concours d'Elegance. This party, hosted by
Gordon and Molly McCall, is quite the way to kick off an
automotive weekend in the grandest of styles.
(Although to call this event a mere party is a bit of a
misnomer.)
In addition to partnering with Breitling to showcase
their watches, we were able to set up a display of our
own jewelry for the evening, combining our own
contemporary Gleim collection with exquisite estate
and period jewelry from J & SS deYoung. If you have
never attended this event, it is difficult to describe:
classic, prototype and custom automobiles and
sports cars, private jets, vintage airplanes, a preview
of automobiles to be auctioned the next day by
Christie's, celebrities, and, of course, food and drink
by some of the area's finest restaurants and
wineries. A grand time was had by all and we look
forward to being part of the event again next year.
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| Holiday Planning |
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We are deep into planning our different holiday
trunk shows.
Here is a partial schedule:
- World-class collection of estate and period
jewelry, focusing on the twentieth century, by J & SS
deYoung, November 8-11.
- Christian Bauer: German-engineered wedding
rings and jewelry, November 16-18.
- Jingirian, a collection of contemporary Italian
jewelry featuring gold and beautiful colored gems,
November 30 - December 2.
- Contemporary collection of tailored colored
gemstone jewelry by Kostbar throughout the month of
December
Stay tuned for announcements of additional
collections!
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| October Birthstones: Opal & Tourmaline |
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October is another month with two birthstone
choices - Tourmaline and Opal.
Tourmaline has become a favorite
gemstone among
jewelry designer, and gem collectors the world over.
Since it is available in a wide variety of colors, it is
ideally suited to almost anyone's taste. Tourmaline
also is known for displaying several colors in the
same gemstone. These bi-color or tri-color gems are
formed in many combinations; gemstones with clear
color distinctions are highly prized. One multi-color
variety is known as watermelon tourmaline, and
features green, pink, and white colors bands; to
resemble its namesake, the gemstone is cut into thin
slices having a pink center, white ring, and green
edge. Tourmaline is found in many localities
including Brazil, Afghanistan, East Africa, and the USA.
Opal derives from the Greek Opallos,
meaning "to see a change (of color)." Opals range in
color from milky white to black with flashes of yellow,
orange, green, red, and blue. An opal's beauty is the
product of contrast between its color play and its
background. Opal is a formation of non-crystalline
silica gel that seeped into crevices in the sedimentary
strata. Through time and nature's heating and
molding processes, the gel hardened into the form of
opals. The opal is composed of particles closely
packed in spherical arrangements. When packed
together in a regular pattern, a three-dimensional
array of spaces are created that give opal its radiance.
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Jewelry Always Has a Story |
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When I accepted the Athena Award, one of the
things I spoke of was the stories which jewelry can
tell, using the jewelry I was wearing to tell specific
stories.
Here are some of those stories: Athena's gem is
moonstone, so I had to wear a Victorian carved
moonstone brooch which my mother gave me a few
years ago. I was wearing my childhood charm
bracelet, of course, which was started for me when I
was about 6. Anyone looking at this bracelet would be
able to see some of the milestones of my life. I was
wearing a pair of moonstone earrings given me by a
dear friend last year. I had helped him select them for
his wife, who was battling cancer. These earrings
turned out to be the last gift of jewelry he ever gave
her, and it was a very emotional moment when, after
her death, he gave them to me to mark our friendship.
And, of course, my engagement ring. Long before my
husband proposed to me, (which he did at the Jules
Verne Restaurant in the Eiffel Tower) he approached a
well-known diamond cutter, Gabi Tolkowsky, to ask if
he would cut a diamond for us, and Gabi said he
would be honored.
Now every time I look at my engagement ring I
remember that special dinner, I remember our
friendship with Gabi, and I especially remember the
fact that my husband George gave such thought to
making a special ring for me. It is rare we have a day
go by that we don't hear such stories from our clients;
they add tremendously to our enjoyment of what we do
every day.
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