Jewelers Bench owners Tony, Mike and Scott Aalund established the store in March 1983, and it has provided keepsakes for the community ever since, the Aalunds said.
“We’re catching the customers at a very emotional time in their life, so you get to make a lot of people happy,” Mike said.
At Jewelers Bench, customers can explain their needs to the craftsmen, have jewelry repaired within hours and ensure the proper fit. The shop will clean jewelry free of charge and without requiring the customer to buy anything. Tony said his advice is threefold: fit, comfort and weight.
“Jewelry is a blind purchase, so you’ve got to trust who you’re dealing with,” Tony said.
Tony started his career in the jewelry industry when he was a high school junior at Liberty Jewelry in Liberty, Texas, where the Aalund family was raised. There, Tony engraved and repaired jewelry and kept the shop tidy. Upon the owner’s advice, he enrolled at a jewelry trade school in Kilgore, Texas, and returned to work as a skilled repairman for five years.
After he and his brothers decided to go into business together, Scott learned watchmaking.
Today, the brothers combine their skills in the one-stop shop for all jewelry and watch needs in Kingwood.
“The important part is to talk to the customers to ask what they want,” Tony said. “Anything you buy we can resize, exchange or return if the wearer doesn’t like it. I want to be treated that way, so that’s how I treat my customers.”
The store is still bouncing back from flood damage during Hurricane Harvey, however. In August, the 3 feet of floodwaters that filled the building seeped into the jewelry safe at the back of the shop and damaged some of the store’s machinery, Mike said.
Although it was one of the first businesses in the Kings Crossing shopping center to reopen, Jewelers Bench is slated to be fully remodeled in time for Valentine’s Day, the brothers said.
Tips for that special gift
With Valentine’s Day around the corner, Sales Manager Kimberly Williams has three key tips to finding the perfect gift:
- Snoop around to see what kinds of jewelry pieces the person has.
- Find out whether the gift receiver likes yellow gold or white gold.
- Take a chance on something new.
If the gift is from the heart, he or she will probably like it.
Jewelers Bench
4580 Kingwood Drive, Ste. E., Kingwood
281-360-6300
www.jewelersbenchtx.com
Hours: Mon.-Fri. 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Sat. 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
