Quality Gold previewing new HERCO products at JCK Las Vegas

By Deborah Yonick

After recently acquiring the fine gold and platinum jewelry company HERCO, Quality Gold is excited to preview at JCK Las Vegas hundreds of new brand products, in stock and its latest catalog shipping this fall. Retailers attending the show, June 2-5, will find Quality Gold in The Plumb Club, booth PC 230 at the Venetian Expo.

Quality Gold’s co-founder and CEO Michael Langhammer describes HERCO as the ideal acquisition given its strong product offerings and distribution capabilities, and demonstrated track record of success as a family-owned business that spans 44 years - sharing a similar history with Quality Gold. COO Jason Langhammer calls it “a smart and strong addition,” accelerating the company’s growth in 18K gold and platinum.

“Our merchandising team is excited to share with buyers more than 350 new items,” Paula Garcia stated. Former director

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Jono recalls a friend telling him years ago about lifelong jewelers: “He made a funny yet apt remark that the old-school generation of jewelers die with a loupe in their hand. …

“Jewelers tend to love what they do and the profound relationships they build over the years with their clients who become friends; they’re reluctant to retire. And then a major life event happens. I didn’t want that to be the tale of my parents. I told my father that I wanted him to reap the rewards of his decades of hard work. After long consideration, he agreed he paid his dues, and it was time to sit back and let his boys take over the business.”

Jono says his dad is only “pseudo retired,” because he still mentions running into someone who wants a piece of jewelry or is looking for a watch.

The King family’s business history dates to 1898, when Louis King immigrated from across the Atlantic and settled in Philadelphia, doing watch repairs before moving West in 1902 to sell goods and supplies to miners during the Gold Rush.

By 1912, he’d accumulated a great deal of gold and opened his first jewelry store. In 1930, he moved to Atlantic City and worked with son Abe and grandson Martin, who later opened stores in Miami Beach. Abe’s was the first jewelry store in Miami Beach, which was such a fashionable place in the 1930s that the Kings closed their Atlantic City store and committed full time to South Florida.

Martin brought son Scott into the business, and they developed Florida Diamond Brokers, establishing an office in Antwerp, Belgium in the 1960s. In the 1980s,

Scott relocated the Miami Beach store to Bay Harbor Islands, where David and Jono grew up; and as CEO, Scott established a luxury salon for the store’s burgeoning estate, fine jewelry, and watch collections.

Over the years, Maxine has witnessed changes in jewelry tastes corresponding with other fashions: “When I first started there were a lot of formal galas and charity events, and big diamond necklaces to go with formal gowns. Then as the years went on, there was less formal wear and people moved to a more daytimeto-nighttime attire. … I travel all over the world looking for incredible designers and collections that no one else offers.”

King has two custom design lines, the King Jewelers Private Label and KJ5, the “5” referring to five generations. Jono says the store was an early adopter of online sales, with customer response growing from tentative to fully confident in making purchases of tens of thousands of dollars.

“We’re starting to see incredible interest in lab-grown diamonds; as the processes have been perfected, there is greater efficiency and more competition in the marketplace; prices have come down and corrected, which now makes sense,” he says, adding that King has a large selection ready to serve customers whose diamond budget may not match the carat size and quality of diamonds from the earth.

“Each of the generations have been exposed to the industry from very early ages,” says Maxine. “Martin, Scott, then Jonathan es as little kids: “We all went to our fathers’ respective stores and started out cleaning jewelry, helping with the displays, putting jewelry into the vaults at night.”

For Maxine, getting to see her family on a daily basis, traveling the world together each year for trade shows, all while laughing and enjoying her best friends in the world has been the greatest part of her experience in the jewelry business.

“When I got out of college, Scott asked me to join the business,” she says. “I’ve been doing it for 48 years and have enjoyed every minute of it. It’s a pleasure

Editor, Bill Newnam bill@southernjewelrynews.com

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Staff Writers

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Deborah Yonick

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Contributing Writers

David Brown

Brad Huisken

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Mia Katrin

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Joel McFadden

Guy Pineda

Southern Jewelry News 2006 New Garden Road - Suite 208 Greensboro, NC 27410

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Fax: 336-389-1952 www.southernjewelrynews.com email: info@southernjewelrynews.com Any views or opinions presented in this publication are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Southern Jewelry News. and David. They all went on to get their college and post-graduate degrees and ultimately landed in the family business.”

David studied pre-medicine and then switched to finance and studied banking at UPenn Wharton, while Jono graduated from law school and became an entrepreneur.

Jono says all the young Kings share common experienc- to go to work with family every day. … I’m looking forward to a sixth generation of King Jewelers!”

Jono says both he and his brother have children, each a son and daughter.

“Having them come into the office, sit at your desk and inquire about each piece and how the business operates is truly a magical experience.”