Are diamonds a girl's best friend?
Brenda Reichel believes they are, along with roughly 200 other known gemstones from agate, jasper and chalcedony to emerald, aquamarine and tourmaline. “As a creative jewelry designer, I love gemstones,” says Reichel, an accredited senior gemologist and senior member of the National Association of Jewelry Appraisers. “They come in a wide variety of colors and prices, and even the simplest piece can dramatically enhance your look and your outlook. From vintage Ming’s jewelry to ultra-modern design lines, jewelry makes you feel good when you wear it.”
Reichel founded Carats & Karats Fine Jewelry in 1987 with just a desk and a safe. Today, her shop offers an impressive range of services including appraisals; repairs; metal testing; estate consignments; pearl and bead stringing; sales of loose gems, custom jewelry and lapidary supplies; and cutting, replacement, matching and fracture filling of diamonds and colored stones.
Her interest in gemology was sparked 37 years ago, when she was just a child of five. She describes her maternal grandparents as “rock hounds” who started a Gem and Mineral Club in their town of Springfield, Missouri. Whenever Reichel visited them, she spent a lot of time with them in their garage, which doubled as their workshop.
Under her grandparents’ watchful eyes, she cut her first stone when she was 12 years old—a pretty blue tiger eye that she set into a barrette. At 18, they guided her as she cut her first facets on a natural quartz crystal. “Many people don't realize that the rough gemstone dictates what shape should be cut,” she says. “Geometry and math formulas and crystallography play a part in how you orient a gemstone to best show off its color.”
Although Reichel initially majored in political science with an emphasis in international law, gemology was her true calling. She graduated from the prestigious Gemological Institute of America in April 1983. By November of that year, she was in Honolulu, working as a gemologist and appraiser for the now defunct House of Adler. After spending a year there, another year at Security Diamond/Conrad Jewelers (also no longer in business) and taking some time off to have her son, she opened Carats & Karats in an 800 –square foot space on South King Street near Ala Moana. The business thrived there for over 18 years before moving to its current 1,440 square foot Kaimuki location in 2006.
Gemologist Jack Jenovese, who specializes in handcrafted one-of-a-kind knives, has worked with Reichel for 15 years. He usually fashions the blades from Damascus steel or Grade 440C stainless steel, the strongest, hardest and most wear-resistant of all the stainless alloys. Materials for the handles include chaurite; garnet; walrus ivory; green, black and magnatite jade; and exotic purpleheart, burl and Hawaiian koa woods.
Some of the knives are purely decorative; others are utilitarian. Says Reichel, “We had a friend in the Army who served in Afghanistan, and we sent him a knife with a koa handle and custom leather sheath. He wore it on his belt every day he was deployed.”
Carats & Karats’ selection of elegant estate pieces constantly changes. There’s jewelry, of course, that bears esteemed names such as Cartier, Chanel, Ming’s, Tiffany, Harry Winston, and Van Cleef & Arpels. Reichel also has sold coins, snuff bottles, silverware, koa calabashes, Niihau shell necklaces and even a 1947 Chevrolet Stylemaster. A century-old violin currently is available.
The store’s contemporary rings, necklaces, bracelets and earrings dazzle the eye with vivid colors, like drops from a rainbow. Some are from Mainland designers whom Reichel admires; others have been created by students from the annual gemology class that she teaches at the Honolulu Academy of Arts. She herself has designed dozens of gorgeous pieces.
If customers have an idea of what they want, but don’t see it in the showcases, Reichel most likely can make it. “Pictures help,” she says. “We can work from their sketch or we can do one for them. It usually takes six to eight weeks to fulfill a custom order.”
She recalls a man who wanted to present his wife with a new diamond ring to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. They had two daughters, so the stones from her original wedding set were incorporated into three new pieces. “The center diamond was used in Mom’s new ring, and her daughters had birthstone rings made out of the two guards,” she says. “It was a nice way to divide the set.”
Reichel knows the joy that a gift of gems can bring. When she was 15, her grandmother gave her a box containing over 50 varieties of gemstones, including garnets from Africa and Sri Lanka, natural turquoise from Arizona and Iran, amethyst and quartz from Brazil, and agates from India and Africa. She says, “I still have that box with her notes on each of the gems she gave me.”
Over the years, her collection has grown to 22 boxes filled with some 3,000 loose colored stones. "Eventually, I am going to do something with all of them, unless someone wants to buy one or two,” Reichel says. “When the moment strikes, I’ll know what I’m going to do; the stones will talk to me. I’ve had one necklace in my head for 15 years. I just haven't sat down to make it yet.”
Recognizing the importance of education, Reichel is happy to discuss gemology and jewelry with anyone who visits her store. “Whether or not they buy something from me, they’ll leave with more knowledge than when they walked in the door,” she says. “The shop is my home away from home, and I’d like them to feel just as comfortable here as I do.” Some customers have lingered for a few hours, enjoying a cup of tea and stimulating conversation with the effervescent Reichel. “I have an excellent library of books,” she says, “and if they have a question I can’t answer, I pull out a reference right then and there, and find it for them.”
She finds most customers don’t buy jewelry on the spur of the moment. “I believe people put a lot of thought into making the right selection for their loved one,” she says. “Quality jewelry will last forever just like the memories of the special occasion for which it was bought.”
Carats & Karats Fine Jewelry
3512 Waialae Avenue
Honolulu, Hawaii 96816
Phone: (808) 735-2301
Web site:
www.caratsandkarats.com
