Having been in business for 72 years, the Gem Jewelry Company is a real Hall County institution.  It was started in a 14 x 40 foot building in 1936 by Mr. Eplan.  It is currently owned and operated by Marvin Orenstein, who took over the business from his father-in-law in 1944.

Marvin Orenstein grew up in the dry goods business, as his folks had a retail dry goods store in Dacatur, GA.  In 1941, Mr. Orenstein married Elise Eplan, the daughter of Mose Eplan, who owned the Gem Jewelry Store at the time.

Mr. Eplan educated Marvin about the jewelry business.  When he passed away, Marvin decided that he  wanted to have a quality jewelry business for the rest of his life, and he became the owner.  He moved the jewelry store from its humble beginnings to where it is located on the Square today.  At that time, all of the surrounding stores had the "old-fashioned" look, so Mr. Orenstein remodeled his business with a modern look!  He laughingly relates how his store looked so good that the other business owners felt the need to change the look of their buildings to keep up with his changes.  He laughs again as he says that the "old-fashioned" look came back into style a few years ago!

This jewelry company is certainly different from others in the Hall County area.  Mr. Orenstein will not sell anything in his store that doesn't come directly from a manufacturer.  He says that there is a lot of cheap, inexpensive jewelry, but he will not touch any of it.  You can be assured that he stands by each of his items.  If you have a problem with anything he has sold you, you take it back to him, and he will take care of it via the manufacturer.  Gem Jewelry will honor any exchanges.  According to Mr. Orenstein, the reason the Gem Jewelry Company has been in business so long is that people know they can trust him.  That's been his success, and we believe every word of it!

Mr. Orenstein tells us that he is the oldest active retail merchant in downtown Gainesville and is proud of the fact that he's still here to do business with them.  He will be 87 years old in August.  He had a stroke in June 2000, and hasn't missed one day of being in the store since he got out of hospital.  And he thanks God every day for that!

The Gem Jewelry Company is open Monday through Saturday, from 10am to 5:30pm.  They are a full line jewelry store, also offering jewelry repair, watch repair, engraving, re-plating for silver-plated pieces, and are a retail store for all major sterling silver lines.  They accept all credit cards, cash and checks.  But don't expect a website or computers.  As Mr. Orenstein puts it, " we still operate the old-fashioned way.  Computers take the personality out of business..."

Gem Jewelry Company                                                                

111 South Bradford Street,

On the Square, Downtown Gainesville, 30501

(770)532-6305