At Simms II Jewelers, the Business of Making People Happy

Artie Bennos likes to say his job is making people happy. Bennos and his wife, Annette, own on Main Street.

“Basically, the husbands and boyfriends spend money on jewelry, but then their wives and girlfriends come in and thank us,” Bennos said. “That’s very gratifying.”

Simms II primarily focuses on upscale jewelry, including 18-karat gold, platinum, and diamonds.

After a few slow years due to the economy, Bennos said, “This year’s been going very well. This year it’s come back.”

Bennos got a degree in civil engineering, but married into the jewelry business. Annette Bennos’ family opened the original Simms Jewelers in Reading in 1956. Artie and Annette Bennos opened a second Simms store in Winchester in 1977.

Though Simms II currently has one part-time employee, it has primarily been Bennos and his wife working in the store together for the past 35 years.

Asked how it is being married and working together, Bennos replied, “We’re still together. Next year, we’ll be together 40 years.”

Bennos prides himself on taking care of his customers.

“It’s our service that separates us from the big box stores,” said Bennos, who has gone so far as to deliver jewelry to customers’ offices and allowed customers to come to his house to pick up jewelry during non-business hours.

“It should never cost extra for the convenience of shopping locally,” Bennos said.

Another thing Bennos focuses on is educating his customers in what to look for when jewelry shopping. He encourages them to shop around, but finds that most of them come back to his store in the end.

Bennos is also committed to continuing his own education in the business. He has a certificate in diamond grading and another in quartz watch repair. He is also active in both the local community and the jewelry industry at large, serving on the boards of directors of the Jewelers of America and the Chamber of Commerce, among others.

Recently, Bennos has become more interested in the social responsibility side of the jewelry industry. He buys Kimberley Process diamonds, which have been certified conflict-free. He is also concerned about child labor in the jewelry manufacturing industry, and is a member of the Council for Responsible Jewellry Practices, as well as the Jewelers Vigilance Committee. He has a few suppliers that make their jewelry exclusively in the U.S.

Bennos also sells jewelry made of recycled gold.

“We buy old, damaged pieces of jewelry and refine them,” Bennos said, noting that customers appreciate the reuse. 

“To be able to say that it comes from recycled gold, it kind of puts your mind at ease that this gold didn’t desecrate the earth.” 

Bennos is also a watch maker, and he enjoys the satisfaction of being able to take a watch apart, fix it, and put it back together again.

“I’m very fortunate that I love what I do,” Bennos said. “There’s never been a day that I don’t want to come to work.”