About Us
HISTORY
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In 1978, Jon Lief founded Great Lakes Gem Company in Cleveland, Ohio as an importer of fine gemstones from around the world. Ten years later, with a growing business that now included jewelry-making, consulting, appraising, and selling and buying estate jewelry, we moved our offices into the Citizens Building, Ohio's busiest jewelry hub, now called the City Club. At the time, it was home to about 30 wholesalers and manufacturers of jewelry. In the late eighty's and ninety's, Jon spent quite a bit of time traveling overseas to purchase inventory. In the process, he developed valuable relationships with industry contacts around the world. These connections continue to serve his business well today. We look forward to serving families in Northeast Ohio for decades to come, providing them with easy, fair, and reliable jewelry services for generation after generation.
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To find out more about the services Great Lakes Gem provides, including selling your estate jewelry, click on a link:
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OUR TEAM
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JON LIEF, OWNER
Jon is Great Lakes gem's founder, owner, and President. His passion for the jewelry business has followed him through forty fun-filled years - years in which he developed truly rewarding relationships with his customers in Northeast Ohio. Jon has been a lifelong resident of Greater Cleveland and enjoys consulting, appraising and assisting in liquidating estate items. Jon is the co-author of the book, "Get What You Want - a Fun, Upbeat and Fresh Approach to Negotiating," and is on the Board of Directors of the Greater Cleveland Better Business Bureau.
PAMELA CHESTER, APPRAISER
Great Lakes Gem is honored to have Pam Chester do our estate jewelry appraising. She is available Tuesdays at our office or at the location of your choice to help you assess the value of your inherited jewelry. Pam is an independent jewelry appraiser, having forty years of experience in the jewelry industry. She specializes in the appraisal of diamonds, gemstones, both modern and antique fine jewelry, and watches. Pam shares the office with Great Lakes Gem Company. Cleveland and services the entire Northeast Ohio area, including Cleveland, Akron, Canton, Wooster and Youngstown. She utilizes a portable lab to assist in her assessment of jewelry.
Pam earned her Graduate Gemologist (G.G.) title from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) in 1975. Her first ten years in the business were spent in retail. The experience she gained working for an independent jeweler in New York and then Cowell & Hubbard in Ohio rounded out her knowledge of the jewelry industry. In 1989, Pam opened Gem Graders, an independent jewelry practice. Her clients have included private individuals and families, jewelry stores, insurance agents, the IRS, auction houses, attorneys, and pawnbrokers. Pam has been a Senior member of the National Association of Jewelry Appraisers (NAJA) since 1989. NAJA consists of appraisers who are educated and specialized in the field of gem and jewelry appraising . She has done estate appraising for the municipal courts in most counties in Northeast Ohio.
CHRISTOPHER HARRY
Christopher Harry is a third generation diamond wholesaler whose jewelry business was started by his Grandfather Abe Harry in 1984. Abe had managed a Cleveland, Ohio Diamond company since the 1960's and was instrumental in their substantial growth. The company has long term contacts in the industry, as well as a large network of customers interested in purchasing estate diamonds and jewelry.
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ABOUT ESTATE JEWELRY
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Estate jewelry is defined as any piece of jewelry that has been used. It can be a week old or hundreds of years old, as long as it has been purchased for the purpose of wearing it. Inherited jewelry is always estate jewelry, but estate jewelry has not necessarily been passed down as an inheritance. Estate jewelry is classified as vintage if it is at least 30 years old and less than 100 years old. Anything over 100 years old is considered antique. Generally, the older the piece the more valuable it is, depending on its condition and style.
Older jewelry pieces can be categorized by the time period in which they were made.
Georgian (1714-1837) – Nature-inspired designs with precious stones.
Early Victorian (1837-1855) – Romantic jewelry that was intricate and delicate and saw the introduction of colored gemstone designs. Lockets and brooches were popular.
Late Victorian (1885-1900) – Diamonds and bright gemstones with star and crescent designs and hatpins were very popular.
Edwardian (Beginning of the 20th Century) – Elaborate designs with expensive gems such as diamonds, emeralds and rubies.
Art Nouveau (Roaring Twenties) – Romantic feminine pieces such as Lalique with curves and natural designs with butterflies and flowers.
Art Deco (1930’s) – More abstract and geometric with influences from cubism and Dadaism. This period produced the most sought after and highest priced estate jewelry.
Retro (1940’s-1960) – Bright, big, bold, elaborate and colorful pieces inspired by Hollywood starlets.
Contemporary (1960-Present) – All the recent styles from Jacqueline Kennedy forward.
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THE GREAT LAKES GEM COMPANY ADVANTAGE:
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We are large enough to have established great contacts in the industry when buying, but small enough to choose every stone carefully and give every customer our full and undivided attention. That's the Great Lakes Gem Advantage.
Since we are not a franchise shop or large conglomerate jeweler, we depend on the business of our good neighbors in Northeast Ohio. That means every day we strive to earn your trust and provide you with service that is a step above and beyond the big-name national jewelers. We try to make your jewelry buying and selling experience easy, quick, and less costly than other places.
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Some larger gemstone companies have client bases that are so large that their stones get “picked through” quickly and both customers and jewelers are not happy with the quality.
Forty years in business is testament to the values we hold in the industry. We’ve earned the trust of Cleveland families and other jewelry companies alike by keeping our customers first. You can always expect a quick turnaround on our services, and you'll always get you a fair price on your most precious gem and jewelry items. Customers know we will get back to them quickly on special orders, and we will ship usually the same day on items we have in stock.
We're proud to have had the opportunity to serve our customers in Northeast Ohio since 1978. We want you to tell your friends about us. So we have to better than the big guys.
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To find out more about the services Great Lakes Gem provides, including selling your inherited estate jewelry, click on a link:
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