A rock-solid business: Karten family making jewelry in region since 1945

What began as the Karten family's side project has become one of the most successful jewelry stores in the area.

"It's more than I ever thought it would be," said Louis Karten, owner of the Diamond Vault located in the Village Shoppes at Cobb Corner in Canton.

The glassed front of the Diamond Vault gives patrons a clear view into the jewelry store's showroom. It also gives people a view of the store's jeweler working on repairs or designs right in the store, providing customers with a chance to see their items worked on.

Business for the Diamond Vault is vibrant and busy, especially with Christmas just days away.

"We're trending way ahead of last year," said Karten, who lives in Sharon.

Karten Jewelers sold their 20 jewelry showrooms, which were dispersed about New England, in 1995 to Zales, so that it could begin to focus more on manufacturing. The Karten family has been manufacturing jewelry since 1945.

Even with the success of the Diamond Vault, Karten said his company is about 90 percent manufacturing. But the more manufacturing they do, the more options the Diamond Vault can display.

The manufacturing side supplies jewelry to several major retailers and to do so it needs to show the retailers a huge array of jewelry, knowing the retailer will likely only bite for select items. The remaining pieces end up in the Diamond Vault. Naturally, when items sell well out of the store, they manufacture more, Karten said, so it's not like a typical factory outlet where the store only gets leftovers. If something works, they'll make it for the store, Karten said.

The large-scale design occurs either in Karten's factory in Hong Kong or in the United States facility. The two factories produce more than 5,000 new designs each year, Karten said.

The Diamond Vault carries everything jewelry buffs would expect to see but also carries unusual and unique styles and designs. The store carries many items that are one of a kind but also makes sure to have on hand more mainstream items. Likewise, the store, which is located between Ann Taylor and the Gap, caters to any financial demographic as it carries pieces under $100 and pieces as much as $75,000.

"We have a whole range," Karten said. "And we're just as happy with either."

When the store first opened in November 2004, it sat next to the Canton Club at Cobb Corner but it took less than a year for Karten and his staff to realize the shop, which was about a quarter the size of its current location, needed a bigger venue since it had so much to display.

"It was just getting cramped," Karten said.

In fall 2006, the shop moved to its current location between Ann Taylor and the Gap, where Karten said it has more than doubled its business.

"It really didn't take long for it to start doing well," he said.

Helping with prices, the store is partnered with DeBeers, which Karten says gives his company a big advantage in cost, as it cuts out several levels of mark up.

Not only does the store showcase its own selection, its employees are happy to make custom designed pieces, whether it is the perfect engagement ring or just the thing for the holiday season.

Karten attributes the store's success to a number of reasons, not the least of which, is the low-pressure shopping environment. He also mentioned reasonable prices, selection and great service.

The Diamond Vault will bring in outside designers for some basic gold and silver designs, but other than that, Karten says they design it all.

"We can make anything," Karten said. "There's almost nothing we couldn't do."

Speaking of anything, the Diamond Vault has even designed jewelry for one customer's dog, Karten said.

Right now, the diamond journey pattern is a big seller, which features a series of diamonds arranged on a necklace or earrings, where each diamond is a little bigger than the one it preceded. It's supposed to symbolize how a relationship grows, Karten said. He also mentioned a pattern called diamonds by the yard, where diamonds are arranged on a necklace in different stations along the pattern.

"We pretty much have a little of everything," he said, adding the store does not carry watches, though it can order them. "We like to stick to what we specialize in, which is nice, fine jewelry."

The stretch from Thanksgiving to Christmas tends to be the busiest; as Karten said the shop does about 40 percent of its business during that stretch.

"This time of year is very important," he said.

After the holidays, birthdays and anniversaries make up a good chunk of the store's sales.

Karten attributes the Diamond Vault's success to the relatively stable economy in the surrounding towns of Canton, Stoughton and Sharon.

"The economy stayed pretty strong," Karten said of the three towns. "And people like to shop local."

Karten said his shop is trying to be proactive when it comes to people who might not be too confident or comfortable in a jewelry store when they try to purchase jewelry for their partners.

"We try to make it as easy as possible for them," Karten said, adding that if someone picks out the "wrong" thing, they can always just exchange it.

To do that, the store set up a wish list, where people point out what they like and the store can attach the item or items to their own personal "wish list." This way, for example, a husband can come in without his wife knowing and pick something up he knows she'll like, Karten said.

"It relieves the stress but it still makes him feel like he's surprising her," Karten said.

The store also accepts trade-ins as Karten said it's fairly typical for people to have single earrings or other pieces they may choose to trade in.

"It works out well for both," Karten said, adding his company is constantly refining gold and will take the gold from trade-ins and recycle it.

And while the rest of eastern Massachusetts struggled to get through Thursday and Sunday's snowfall last week, Karten said the snow puts people in that holiday spirit.

"It really puts people in that Christmas mood," he said, adding the Diamond Vault even had a few customers during the storms. "If people make it in on those days, you know they're serious."

"It's good to know local businesses are doing well," Karten said.

Karten said most of the shops at Cobb Corner have remained since it opened.

Canton Journal