lifestyles | tiny jewel box
the not so tiny jewel box As the iconic Tiny Jewel Box unveils an expanded storefront, the Rosenheim family looks to the future and fondly reflects on the company’s past. By virginia coyne
Tiny Jewel Box’s new storefront.
From L to R: Rachel, Beth, Matthew, Marcia, Jim, Jessica and Josh Rosenheim stand behind a display case in Tiny Jewel Box’s newly expanded space. Photo by Tony Powell.
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ust days before the Tiny Jewel Box unveiled its newly expanded space on the corner of Connecticut and M Streets NW, a prime location formerly occupied by Burberry, CEO Jim Rosenheim paused in conversation. “As we get closer [to the opening],” he said, “I’ve been thinking a lot about my parents.” Rosenheim’s mother, Roz, and father, Monte, opened the original Tiny Jewel Box – a 100 square foot antique jewelry store on G Street that Jim remembers as being “two by nothing” in 1930. Jim, who made his first sale (“a $15 ring”) at the age of six, acquired the business as an adult and grew it into a premiere retail destination championing and showcasing sometimes unheard-of designers (he was David Yurman’s first customer and Marco Bicego’s second) who today adorn the wrists, fingers, ears and necklines of women and men around the globe. Still, the jeweler vividly remembers his father’s reaction the last time he expanded – in 1996 – when he purchased and renovated the historic five-story former Elizabeth Arden building the company continues to occupy today. “My father comes downtown, sees the sign and says ‘Are you crazy? What are you doing? Why are you doing this?’” Jim recalls. “It got pretty ugly. He was so
W A S H IN G TON LI F E
| h o l i d ay
2015
anxious and petrified that, God forbid, I should make a mistake and business would fail.” Despite the elder Rosenheims’ fears, the business has continued to thrive and today, with 8,000-square feet of retail space, the store is finally able to showcase its entire inventory on one floor. That’s the best part, says Jim’s son Matthew, who serves as president and handles day-to-day operations. Matthew is also preparing a fourth generation of Rosenheims – his teenage son Josh and daughter Rachel – to work in the family business, if they so choose. The advice he gives them when they man the showroom floor: “Assume that anyone who walks in the store can buy anything we have for sale … until they tell you otherwise.” It’s a philosophy that has guaranteed Tiny Jewel Box a loyal following and left the family with memorable stories. Young couples come in for engagement rings, law firms and government agencies seek out its corportate gifts division for custom designs (including honorary medals), and well-known journalists, lobbyists and administration officials are among the clientele. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, a customer and friend of more than 40 years,
| washingtonlife.com
showcased brooches she acquired from Tiny Jewel Box in her book “Read my Pins.” Barbra Streisand stopped by in the 90s to have a broken necklace fixed upon the suggestion of Albright. People followed the superstar singer down the street and pressed their faces against the display windows to peek inside. Jim shuffled her into a private room, convinced the singer a necklace she’d eyed up front (but another customer purchased on the spot upon noticing Streisand’s admiration) wasn’t meant for her, and the two began a friendship that continues to this day. On President Obama’s inauguration day, incoming first lady Michelle Obama presented a gift box from Tiny Jewel Box – containing a red leather journal and engraved silver pen inside – to her predecessor Laura Bush. It was a scene broadcast around the world, and one of the most memorable moments for Jim in his 61-years in the business. “To think that this little family business has evolved into something that’s pretty much of an institution in Washington and to be a part of an inauguration, even in a remotely tangential way, is really amazing,” Jim says.“There’s nothing anybody can ever buy from me to take that away.”
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