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The Beauty Of Greis

Gorgeous jewels, high-quality craftsmanship—
and a legacy of integrity—set this local gem apart.

Watches by Omega.

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Tourmaline
and blue topaz
earrings with
diamonds

Greis Jewelers
32940 Middlebelt Road
Farmington Hills, MI 48334
248-JEWELER
www.greis.com

PHOTO BY BRETT MOUNTAIN

PHOTO BY BRETT MOUNTAIN

PHOTO BY BRETT MOUNTAIN

By Lynne Konstantin

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ason Greisdorf learned a lot from
his dad — about life, about busi-
ness and about integrity.
Greisdorf spent his childhood
behind the counter of parents Gary and
Gita’s jewelry store, Greis Jewelers in
Farmington Hills.
He watched his dad inspecting gems,
soaking in the way he could feel what was
quality — and what was not. He learned
how to memorize and evaluate the color
of a stone, how to fine-tune his eye for
what is a strong design, whether innova-
tive or classic. He learned how to work
with artisans from around the world and
to determine what is handcrafted, and
what is machine-produced.
What Greisdorf is most grateful for,
though, is the integrity that he learned
from his father.
“We have a very devoted, longstanding
clientele,” Greisdorf says. “They come here
because we offer a unique, high-quality
selection. But they return because they
know they can trust us, and because
we are committed to customer service,
whether they are buying a $75 charm or a
$50,000 watch. That’s how my dad was.”
In their native Latvia, Gita was a school-
teacher and Gary was a master horologist,
or watchmaker. “He could fix anything,”
Greisdorf says. “He would make watches
and repair clock towers, and anything
that his customers brought him.” He also
dabbled in jewelry, working with arti-
facts ranging from diamonds to antique
Faberge pieces. “He was known in Latvia
as a mover and a shaker, someone you
could go to for everything in the business.”
Immigrating to the United States, by
way of a two-year stay in Israel where

Gary worked for Seiko, in 1972, the fam-
ily (including sister, Luba) settled in the
Detroit area, where Gary had a brother.
Greisdorf ’s uncle helped give his dad a
start, and soon Gary’s business took off.
Opening his first location of Greis
Jewelers at Nine Mile Road and
Woodward, in Ferndale, Gary offered
watch-repair services, including to other
area jewelers.
From the start, Gary was dedicated to
his customers and insistence on only the
finest quality and workmanship, and his
customers noticed — and returned again
and again. Slowly, Gary and Gita (whom
Greisdorf calls the “backbone of the busi-
ness”) began to build a following.
Soon after a series of armed robberies
at various jewelry stores in the Ferndale
area, when Gary, too, was burglarized
several times and held up at gunpoint, the
family business moved to its current loca-
tion in Farmington Hills, at Fourteen Mile
Road and Middlebelt, in 1976.
After days spent attending Hillel Day
School in Farmington Hills, Greisdorf
would spend the rest of the afternoon
in the shop, “not doing my homework,”
he says. “I was 10 years old, and I would
watch my dad in the back room, talking to
jewelry designers, buying diamonds. I lis-
tened. I’ve since become a certified mas-
ter gemologist. But I really learned under
my dad’s leadership.”
Studying biology at Wayne State
University, Greisdorf intended to go on
to medical school. During spring break,
his mom called him. “My dad had a triple
bypass,” Greisdorf says. “It was a reality
check.”
Finishing his degree in 1989, he went

Diamond engagement rings.

to work with his dad, “and never left,” he
says. “I learned the business. We traveled
abroad together. Sometimes it was an
uphill battle, especially when I started to
have my own creative ideas — but I’m so
grateful that I had that time with him. It
was really special.”
Gary Greisdorf passed away in 2011 —
but he left a legacy: Not just a family busi-
ness, but a family ideology, one that Jason
and Luba are committed to upholding
every day.
Because of the integrity that Gary
founded his life’s work upon, Greisdorf
is able to provide his customers — both
devoted regulars and first-timers who’ve
found the store through word of mouth
— with a unique care that only a boutique
shop could provide. To that end, the fam-
ily will do almost anything to please a
customer — from creating a custom piece
and working within a wide range of bud-
gets to simply remembering their name as
they walk in the door.
Greisdorf also continues to scour the
U.S. and Europe for the highest-quality
gems, the best designers and craftspeople
and the best workmanship he can find.
And though Greis Jewelers does offer a
number of designers who might be house-
hold names, including Roberto Coin and
Mikimoto, and watches from Omega and
Movado, Greisdorf brushes the names
aside. “We have popular designers and we
have European designers that Americans
have never heard of,” he says. “We don’t
carry them because of the name. We carry
them because they stand out above the
rest at what they do.”
A lesson Greisdorf learned from his
dad. Y

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July 18 • 2017

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