Tom and Kathleen Trassare, their son Daniel (far right) and Tom's mother Santa enjoy serving customers who visit their downtown Jackson shop for custom jewelry, clock repair and vintage American coins. Photo by: Marcia Oxford

When the Trassare family opened Trassare Jewelers in November 1979, they brought two generations of experience in jewelry operation to the Mother Lode. Tony and Santa Trassare operated a jewelry store in San Juan Capistrano for a decade, and had been in the business 25 or more years before that, their son Tom said. Tom, who with his wife Kathleen was living in Anaheim, devoted some 10 years to managing the jewelry department for Medco, which ran the J.C. Penney jewelry stores. Medco served some 60 stores under his administration. When the two generations decided to pull up stakes from Southern California, they took their time researching where they wanted to be.

"We looked up and down California," Tom said. "It was important that we could buy a building, because we certainly weren't going to rent. That made the search a bit harder. We weren't that familiar with this area, but when we came to Jackson, we realized it was busy. We didn't know the town, but we saw that it was a good, working small town which is what we wanted." And they found the building they sought. Dan Barnett, former co-owner of the Dispatch, had operated the newspaper out of the downtown Jackson location for awhile prior to selling the site.

The Trassares bought the building in 1978 and spent some time refurbishing it before their official opening of 38 Main. They operate their business in one of the town's historic buildings, built in 1854 by the Levy Brothers and operated first as a dry goods store.Tom said, over the years, different enterprises occupied the space, including a clothing store. It was known as the 49er Club for most of the time but was dubbed The Red Garter when Barnett bought it.

The long, narrow space lends itself perfectly to the family's four-part merchandising. Of course, they specialize in jewelry, with Tom and and son Daniel annually buying loose precious and semi-precious stones at a highly reputed gem show in Tucson, Ariz. They usually return from these forays with enough glittering stones to create rings, pendants and earrings for the balance of the year. Over time, Trassare has noticed changes in customers' choices in jewelry design. "We used to do a lot of big, heavy, freeform things." he said, "These days, we're working with more geometrical designs using smooth polished stones, many of them oddly shaped. We use a lot of opal and we're seeing unusual cuts which work well into nice pieces of jewelry."

Clients can choose from hundreds of styles of wax designs for the lost wax castings used to create their rings. Once a customer has chosen the lost wax setting desired, an element called "investment," resembling plaster of Paris, is poured over the wax. After the investment has hardened, the setting is fired in a 1300-degree oven until the wax melts, leaving a mold into which gold is poured to fill the mold hollows. Cleaning, polishing and setting the gemstones are the final flourish to each piece.

While choosing from the expansive assortment of settings, customers also can select from a broad array of stones, among them amethyst, citrine, peridot, blue topaz, garnet, unusual black onyx containing gold-plated crystals, and tourmaline. Tourmaline is a favorite, Trassare said, for the many colors in which it's available. Designs incorporating rubies, sapphires and emeralds are also showcased here.

Among other jewelry selections, the Trassares also carry Black Hills gold jewelry, gold chains and Spiedel and Lorus watches. To keep on top of jewelry trends, Tom and Daniel attend shows and concurrent seminars, and they check out ideas in the four trade magazines that come to the shop each month.

Above the dazzling jewelry shown in glass display cases are myriad clocks in antique motifs and contemporary designs, all ticking and chiming gently through the hours. "We had the clocks right from the beginning," Trassare said. "I learned to repair watches with my father when I was 15 and decided I liked clocks better. They're just more fun. So I take care of the clock repair. We get a lot of requests for those."

Daniel has made two important additions to the store, with his collectible coins and knives. Trassare said his son specializes in American coins, some dating to the early 1800s. "He started that when he was about 16 or 17. That's his part of the business, along with the knives. What's really neat is between the jewelry, the clocks, the knives and coins, it's a good blend for people to stop in and look around. The women are drawn to the jewelry and the guys look at the coins and knives."

Greeting and helping customers with sales and repairs is the purview of Kathleen and Santa whose husband is deceased. From something as simple as replacing a quartz battery in a watch to helping someone select an exquisite piece of jewelry, they are on the front line with customers. The quartet enjoy the business, mostly because, as Trassare says, "It's fun doing because we have a nice town and a lot of tourists who drop in here."

To support Jackson's promotional efforts, he's a member of the Historic Jackson Business Association. He's also on the Upcountry Lions member roster. Monday through Saturday, though, you're most likely to see Tom and the rest of the family showing and selling their intriguing selection of wares that appeal to residents and visitors alike.

For other information, call 223-3801.