Kelly Waters celebrates 60 years in business built on moxie & trust

By Deborah Yonick

New Englanders are known for their resourcefulness, dedication, and independent streak. That’s how brothers Jack and Ed Waters, co-owners of the Bostonbased jewelry supplier Kelly Waters, describe their parents, the late John and Frances Kelly Waters, who started the company 60 years ago.

Kelly Waters is well known today for its extensive collection of high-quality classic and fashion sterling silver jewelry for women and men, offered under collections like Bella Cavo, Black Label, Legère, and Lindsay & Co.

The company makes clear that it is so wicked confident in the quality of every piece of Kelly Waters jewelry that it’s guaranteed for a lifetime. Not only that, to celebrate its diamond anniversary, Kelly Waters ensures retail jewelers that just about everything it sells, apart from gold, yields margins of at least 60%.

Deep Roots

One of the most respected names in the jewelry industry, Kelly Waters started in John and Frances’ home in Boston, selling fashion jewelry to regional retail jewelers. The consummate road warrior, John would travel for months at a time, while Frances stayed home raising their sons and managing the business.

With great affection for their dad, Jack and Ed describe John as “industrious, a go-getter and real people person.” They regaled how he sold newspapers at Fenway Park, and became the president of the newsboy union when he was just a teenager. John’s introduction to the jewelry industry was working as a runner in the

Please see Waters page 30

Of the seven children born to store founders Tom Clark Sr. and his wife Martha, Patrick Clark is one of five siblings to carry on in the family business, which began on a shoestring. The senior Clark’s father had died when he was young, and after com-

Please see Clark page 2