By Brian Livingston

blivingston@themeridianstar.com



To this girl, diamonds have been her best friend for more than 53 years. 

Meet Linda Long, the Star of the Week. If you don’t already know her, you only have a short time to meet her acquaintance professionally.

Long is preparing to retire from the jewelry profession as the doors of Linda’s Fine Jewelry on 22nd Avenue start to slowly close on a long and successful career. It is a time she categorized as bittersweet. 

“I’m going to miss the customers who have followed me all these years from one jewelry store to another,” said Long. “But I’m also ready to move on. Traveling is something I want to do and getting out more into the community with volunteer work.”

For 12 years Linda’s Fine Jewelry has served its customers with fine stones and designs as well as with customer care not typically found in the big franchise stores, she said. It is the service Long is most proud of because she said she realized just how much importance people placed in their jewelry.

“Jewelry has always fascinated me,” she said, thinking back to when she was 12 years old and having to stand on a wooden box in order to see over the counter at Kirk’s Jewelers in the Three Foot Building. “The exquisite stones and the imagination of the makers were always special.”

It was the one-on-one interaction with the customers Long fell in love with the most. There is trust that has to be developed and nurtured.

“I have the great-grandchildren of former customers coming into the store,” she said smiling. “That’s when I realize just how long I’ve been in this business.”

Throughout the years, Long learned valuable lessons. One of them: no matter what kind of jewelry is brought into her care, the customer believes it is the Hope Diamond. The sentimental value of jewelry grows over the years and decades. She said respecting the customer has been very vital in her success. 

“You have to have integrity in this business,” she said emphatically. “You provide good service, good products and treat the customer as you would like to be treated if you were on the other side of the counter. It really pays off in lifelong friends and clients.”

When Long first began in the jewelry business, gold was about $36 an ounce. A carat of diamonds was worth about $1,000. Now, although the price of gold fluctuates through the decades, gold is $920 an ounce and a one-carat exquisitely cut diamond ring might cost $8,000.

“This is a business you have to stay on top of,” Long said. “There are trends that keep coming back around, just as it is in the clothing business, but for the most part you have to have a great deal of knowledge about your product and keep track of what customers are looking for. It will keep you on your toes.”

Color, clarity, carat weight and cut are all very important basics one has to learn in order to be a success in the jewelry trade, she said. With the number of independent establishments dwindling, Long said for those who are particular about their jewelry, it is vital customers find someone they can trust. 

“Sometimes it takes awhile but if you can find that jeweler who gives you service and a good product you will be glad you did the leg work,” said Long.

Long, on the other hand, will be filling the void she is about to create by retiring. 

“I will find other joys I’m sure,” she said.