LAFAYETTE, CALIFORNIA – A longtime Lafayette jewelry store is entering a new era as its founder retires and passes the business to the goldsmith he has trained for nearly a decade.
Ware Designs Jewelers, located at 3645 A Mt. Diablo Boulevard, is now owned by Melissa Watson, who is taking over from founder and master goldsmith Stephen Ware.
The store celebrated the transition with a grand reopening and Lafayette Chamber of Commerce ribbon-cutting ceremony on August 19.
Ware began his goldsmithing career in 1977 and opened the business’s first Lafayette location in 1995. The studio moved to its current Mount Diablo Boulevard storefront in 2008.
Over the years, Ware Designs became known for creating custom jewelry locally instead of relying solely on mass-produced pieces from outside manufacturers. The studio also repairs and redesigns existing jewelry, including family heirlooms and estate pieces.
Watson has worked as Ware’s apprentice for about a decade. She trained at the Revere Academy of Jewelry Arts in San Francisco and holds a diamond-grading credential from the Gemological Institute of America.
Her specialties include custom jewelry design, repairs and transforming older pieces into new creations. Customers can bring in loose stones, damaged jewelry or inherited pieces to be redesigned in the Lafayette studio.
Want more Lafayette and Contra Costa County business news? Sign up for the free 925 News newsletter.
While the ownership is changing, the store says its core approach will remain intact. Custom pieces will continue to be designed, fabricated, set and finished in-house. Repair work, including ring resizing, chain soldering, stone replacement and prong restoration, is also performed at the Lafayette location.
The shop additionally offers jewelry appraisals, engraving, pearl restringing, estate sorting and a selection of ready-made fine jewelry.
The transition means Ware Designs will remain locally operated even as its founder steps away from the bench. It also gives Watson the opportunity to carry forward the skills and customer relationships she developed during her apprenticeship.
Ware Designs is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
