J. West Jewelers | Round Rock

By K. Jenney Friday, 05 February 2010

ROUND ROCK — Joe West knows you don’t always end up where you think you will. Growing up in Killeen, he wanted to be a marine biologist, but an after-school job at a wholesale jewelry store sweeping floors and making deliveries changed his career course.

“I had never even thought about becoming a jeweler,” West said. “I was fortunate to work at a wholesaler with a great staff. They saw my interest and offered to teach me the trade.”

He learned as much as he could about the craft of jewelry making—including the ability to heat metal precisely to its melting point without using a thermometer—before moving on to manage a mall-based jewelry repair franchise. There, he learned the retail side of the business, and he enjoyed interacting with customers.

He and a partner opened their first wholesale shop in Cedar Park and worked with chains, including Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom, Friedman’s Jewelers and Helzberg Diamonds. West compares the work they did in those days to factory labor.

“No customer interaction; just lots of repairs,” he said.

The pair decided to make the move into retail, and in 2002, they opened the current location in The Market at Round Rock. They didn’t advertise at first, relying on existing customers and walk-in opportunities from people visiting other businesses in the strip mall.

In 2005, West bought out his partner, and soon thereafter he was faced with the difficult decision of giving up the wholesale side of his business.

“I was spending way too much time in the shop, and my wife, Kelli, was home with our two children,” he said. “It wasn’t a good situation for any of us.”

It was then that West merged the traditional art of jewelry making with advanced computerized technology to produce one of his best-selling pieces, an eternal mother’s ring, for his wife. The band, engraved with their children’s names and birthstones, is surrounded by two smaller eternity bands of diamonds.

“That piece really helped our custom services take off,” West said.

He uses a computer-aided design program to construct custom pieces virtually. The program is so advanced it has the ability to convert the architectural image into a photograph that can be e-mailed to customers for review and approval.

“Not only does the computer make the design process easier, it is a great way to have a virtual backup for unique pieces in the event they become damaged, lost or stolen,” West said.

The shop has three full-time employees, but the machinery makes it seem like a larger operation. West’s favorite tool is his milling machine, which makes wax molds of his designs that are then sent out to be cast and returned for embellishment.

Despite the current economy, West has experienced an increase in sales over the past year, including many original pieces made from older jewelry. The custom design work keeps West busy and his regular patrons happy.