Quality, value help jeweler’s bottom line sparkle

CROWN JEWEL: Providence Diamond Co. prides itself on avoiding “elitism” by offering a number of product lines. Pictured above are Providence Diamond Director of Operations Brandon Salomon, left, and owner Peter Pritsker. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO
CROWN JEWEL: Providence Diamond Co. prides itself on avoiding “elitism” by offering a number of product lines. Pictured above are Providence Diamond Director of Operations Brandon Salomon, left, and owner Peter Pritsker. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

Peter Pritsker, the founder and owner of the Providence Diamond Co., says consistency in quality is what has helped the jewelry store thrive for more than two decades.
As a seller of more than 16 lines of fine watches and jewelry, Pritsker doesn’t want the Cranston firm to be considered “exclusive” if that term is associated with “expensive” or “elitist.”
“We’re not trying to be exclusive,” Pritsker said in a recent interview. “We are reachable by anyone.”
Pritsker, who made his own way in the industry as an independent broker and salesman for small jewelry firms before launching his own company in 1989, said that what sets his gems, watches and jewelry apart is that they are “everlasting.”
“Our main thing is to sell jewelry that can hold value and be handed down,” he said. “We have every watch price point now, and the very best brands to match them.”
Director of Operations Brandon Salomon elaborated, adding: “We provide the very best quality in this industry. It doesn’t make [the product] the most expensive, but you’re getting the best value and quality for what you’re spending, and this is done through the exclusivity of the brands.”
The company in August launched a Tudor watch line with a price range of $2,000 to $5,000 to supplement its Rolex products. In September, the store began selling Shinola watches priced between $400 and $900, he added.
In addition, the company offers a David Yurman line priced between $3,000 and $8,000, as well as $200 Daniel Wellington watches.
When Pritsker’s firm became an official Rolex dealer in 1997-98, it was the durability and workmanship of the brand, as well as its elegance, that he felt would be a lasting draw.
“They look the same over the years,” he said. “They just improve them internally; they strengthen the clasp, for instance. It’s a constant improvement.”
“We emulate that here,” Salomon said. “We’re constantly bringing on stronger products.”
As a young man, Pritsker learned the diamond trade by connecting with a small company called the Claar Brothers, then for M. Fabricant, a large diamond importer, when it was searching for a salesman in New England.
“The owner just liked me and said, ‘OK, we’ll give you a test: I’ll pay you $200 a week and let’s see what happens,’ ” Pritsker recalled.
In the late 1980s, after working as an independent broker in Providence, Pritsker and his wife decided to open a retail business in Warwick, doing so just before a recession hit. By 1991, the company moved permanently to Cranston’s Garden City Center and kept the name.
The firm doubled its space in the plaza in 1997, and weathered the recession of 2008 by sticking to well-known name brands and advertising a lot, Pritsker said.
“We’re a family jeweler, we’re not a chain store,” he said. “I was on the premises most of the time. If there was any question, I was there to resolve it.”
Besides Pritsker and his wife, Marcia, daughter Suzanne Pritsker-Salomon (Brandon’s wife) is marketing director and head buyer. Daniel Pritsker is vice president and oversees diamonds, Rolex and estate buying, Pritsker and Salomon said.
No one is on commission at this store, Salomon added, “because we want the staff here to service the clients and not sell to them.”
The Providence Diamond Co. is a couture jeweler, participating in an annual Las Vegas show by invitation only. The status is an indication of the company’s commitment to carrying the highest quality and most exclusive brands, Salomon and Pritsker said.
“People will call and say they’ve found a diamond … sometimes inherited with an old setting, and we’ll appraise it,” Salomon said. “Sometimes we’ll re-cut it to increase its value. It’s about [having] the light refract perfectly so you have the most sparkle, [making it] more vibrant, more valuable.”
Using 3-D printing instead of manually drawing or using computer-assisted design, a mold for a piece of jewelry can be produced in plastic instead of wax, eliminating the need for casting, Salomon added.
“Now, it takes seven days to produce a piece of jewelry where before it would have taken months,” he said.
While about 15 percent of the business’ repair and custom work is sent out, most of it is done in-house by a single jeweler and a couple of assistants, he said. The long-range plan is to expand a section of the store into a glassed-in room where customers can watch a ring being made or repair work being done, Salomon said. •

COMPANY PROFILE
Providence Diamond Co.
OWNER: Peter Pritsker
TYPE OF BUSINESS: Retail fine jewelry
LOCATION: Garden City Center, 65 Hillside Road, Cranston
EMPLOYEES: 12
YEAR ESTABLISHED: 1989
ANNUAL SALES: WND

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