DRAPER FIRST
September 2020
A Special Publication by City Journal, Draper City, and South Valley Chamber of Commerce
J.P. Lee Jewelry is ‘a hub of good feelings’ By Mimi Darley Dutton | m.dutton@mycityjournals.com
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eweler Jon Lee is in a feel-good business and is one of those rare people who actually loves what he does for a living. He said his business is, “almost always associated with romance, good feelings, expressions of love and gratitude. It’s people wanting to give something to someone they love and appreciate. To see that every day is what keeps me coming back, that coupled with the nuance of jewelry itself and God’s creation in gemstones and metals that we get to utilize our skills to craft into something beautiful.”
visit. It’s a little bit of a hub of good feelings, goodwill and friendship that’s evolved over 30 years. It’s much more than a business to us, it’s a big part of our life,” Lee said.
The Lees have been in the jewelry business for 30 years, the last 20 of those in Draper. Lee grew up about a block and a half from the store building he now owns. In his youth, it was the Draper Pharmacy, dentist and doctor’s office building all in one. “It was a full-service building with a breezeway so you could go from the doctor’s office Lee and his wife, Susan, can of- right into the pharmacy and get your ten be found working side-by-side in prescription,” he said. their store located at the T-intersection Lee graduated from Alta High of Fort Street and Pioneer Road. They get to witness people doing joyous and School and spent time at the University exciting things in their lives. Lee said of Utah and Brigham Young University. that seeing and appreciating people by “I went to work in a jewelry store for mingling with them is the best part of what I thought would be three months in college and I ended up liking it, so I the business. worked at different stores after that,” he “We’re not only selling people jew- said. He decided to make it his career, elry, we have a community that comes so he went to the Gemological Institute in and out and stops by to say hi and of America in San Diego. Lee is both
a graduate gemologist, meaning that he has education in jewelry and appraisal, as well as a goldsmith, or one who manufactures and repairs jewelry. He’s not just skilled with jewelry, but with names and faces as well. Lee said his clientele base is at least 30,000 people, 90% of whom he and Susan know by name. Lee sells and designs both traditional and contemporary styles. He estimates he’s made 10,000 pieces of jewelry. “We start with an idea that moves into a sketch that then moves into a hand-carved wax model or a computer-aided design (CAD) wax model. We cast the wax model in gold or platinum and then set the stones and finish the piece. It’s all in-house, we do it right there using old school methods and the latest technologies to do it. We do a lot with laser that we use to do intricate setting and repair work. Wax carving by hand is literally thousands of years old.
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