A custom-made ring from
Ben Sorkin Jewelers.

A Jewel-Worthy Selection
The Philadelphia area is home to some of the best independent
places to shop for precious stones and metals of all kinds.

JON MARKS | JE STAFF
es, diamonds are still a girl’s best friend. But when it comes
to buying jewelry for the holidays, they’re by no means your
only option.

Depending upon a number of factors — your bankroll, whether
you want to schlep into the city, deal with the crowds at the mall or
venture someplace else — there should be something for everybody.

With Chanukah almost here, it’s getting to be a busy time in the
jewelry business.

Only, it’s not quite as busy as it used to be.

“In the past, jewelers used to do about 60 percent of their busi-
ness from the end of November to December,” said Ben Sorkin of
Ben Sorkin Jewelers, who’s been on Sansom Street for 35 years. “It’s
not quite like that anymore with the advent of the Internet and
other factors.

“So you have to work harder to get business. Make the phone
calls. Get out and hustle.”
Those on Jeweler’s Row like Sorkin face a different challenge.

Not only do they have to lure customers into Center City, where
they often have to deal with traffic, parking and other hassles, but
they have to compete with each other.

If you don’t like the merchandise in one store, there are plenty
of others eager for your business. Since no one wants to price them-
selves out of the running, you may get more bang for your buck.

Y “This is still the street of dreams,” said Steve Rosen of Sydney
Rosen Co., whose late father founded the business 70 years ago “Ab-
solutely. For those who like to come into town for some significant
shopping, Jeweler’s Row is still a significant draw. They can go into
dozens of stores for some serious comparison-shopping. They don’t
pay mall prices since we’re all competing with each other, so we keep
the prices down. They can see a lot of choices all on one trip. And
they’re dealing with family-owned businesses rather than corpora-
tions. Many people like that.”
On the other hand, Jake Spiegelman, of Jay Roberts Jewelers in
Marlton, says he offers the best of both worlds: affordable prices with-
out having to deal with the annoyances of coming into the city.

“What we have here, rather than an open smaller location, is one
super location,” said Spiegelman, who opened the business with
Roberts 30 years ago, moving to its current location in 1991. “We’re
all under one roof, with a full-time jeweler and watchmaker. This
is kind of a supermarket of jewelry all located in one spot.”
While he’s working the Jersey market and people like Sorkin,
Rosen and Robert Schwartz of Harry Merrill & Son — which has
been around for 61 years — try to drive customers to their respective
stores, Joy Stember does it a bit differently.

Now in her fifth year running her own company, she’s become
one of the experts in the relatively small field of metal arts, special-
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