A diamond on the square

Marilyn’s Fine Jewelry, owned and operated by Jeff’s wife, Marilyn Scott, started in 1988 as an outgrowth of his Sharlan Jewelers Inc. Fifteen years earlier, Scott began wholesaling his custom jewelry out of a room in the Holland Building in downtown Springfield.

After building clientele of more than 100 across four states, it was a natural progression to open a retail store, the Scotts said. During the first year, Sharlan Jewelers and Marilyn’s shared the Holland Building space.

Then, they jumped at the chance to purchase a building on Park Central Square from Endless Summer Inc. owner Dan Martin. In 1989, the three-story building sold for about $50,000, the Scotts said; it now appraises for around $93,000, according to the Greene County Assessor’s Office.

Today, Marilyn’s store with several cases of jewelry and various seasonal and gift items operates out of about 1,500 square feet on the first floor, and Jeff Scott works his trade in the basement. The top floors are used for storage.

The businesses are as separate as the division between first floor and basement at 108 Park Central Square. In fact, Marilyn’s Fine Jewelry is among Sharlan’s roughly 50 customers but is treated like the rest, Jeff Scott said. “To me downstairs, it matters not whose name is on the job,” he said. “Of course, I’d like to see her sell a lot of stuff, but as far as the work goes, it’s strictly two separate setups.”

Marilyn Scott does keep a closer eye on the books of both companies, with help from accountant BKD LLP. The couple declined to disclose revenues but said sales this Christmas were better than a year ago.

Special orders account for half of Marilyn’s business, with repairs, 30 percent, and gift and other retail sales, 20 percent, generating the rest. After all, the store’s motto is, “Find it. Create it. Repair it.”

However, Marilyn Scott said business has slowed in recent years partly due to the aging of clientele. “We’re kind of winding down at our age,” she said, adding that the store relies on word of mouth and “old, steady customers.”

Business took a hit when Nations Bank merged with Bank of America in 1996 and the number of jobs diminished in the bank building around the corner on the square. Foot traffic hasn’t been matched since, she said.

Extinct trade

Age is showing in Jeff Scott’s trade as well, where extinction is a real threat.

“Businesses like ours, there’s not very many of them left … around the country,” he said of custom jewelry wholesalers. “A lot of times, the guys just simply get old and die. And the young people, a lot of them don’t want to take the time to learn this. You can’t learn this in a couple of weeks or a couple of years.”

The trend is for computers to aid in the work, connected to a milling machine that immediately creates the piece.

“Instead of learning to do it by hand, a lot of guys are using computers. To me, that’s not a handmade piece,” he added. “You could push a button and make another 5,000 just like it.”

In Scott’s world, the process starts with a client’s idea, which he then carves out of wax and casts. The customer is called in to review it and approve it, and Scott proceeds to set the stones and finish the piece.

Scott picked up the trade as an 18-year-old apprentice in Iowa. He then worked his way to shop foreman before moving to Springfield to really put his craftsmanship to work. He estimates training about 50 jewelers in the tricks of his trade over the years.

Scott never earned a degree or certificate in the trade. He didn’t have to. “I’ve been doing this long before they came out with those, quote, degrees,” he said.

He attends seminars to keep up on designs and trends.

Retirement isn’t yet an option for the Scotts. “I don’t know what else I’d do,” Jeff Scott said.

Added Marilyn Scott, with a laugh: “(Jeff) said he’ll do it until he falls off his chair.”

Remembering the Past

At least four businesses have operated on the ground floor of 108 Park Central Square. Before Marilyn’s, it was a dress shop, a Hallmark card shop and in the 1920s, Holland Bank.

Marilyn’s Fine Jewelry

Founded: January 1988

Owner: Marilyn Scott

Address: 108 Park Central Square, Springfield, MO 65806

Phone: (417) 831-1301

Fax: (417) 831-6570

Products: Custom-made jewelry and gifts

Employees: 2

Where do you see the company in another 18 years? “(Jeff) said he’ll do it until he falls off his chair.”