Secret of My Success: Robert LaGravinese

Owner of in Bronxville, Robert LaGravinese, 56, is a third generation jeweler, who takes enormous pride in his work.

He learned to hold this pride in his work from his father, an 81-year-old jeweler and owner of La Gravinese Jewelers in Pelham.

The family line of jewelers started all the way back in 1912 when Robert’s grandfather came from Italy to America and opened a jewelry shop in 1917.

In 1976 Robert LaGranvinese landed a spot in Bronxville’s line up of stores on Pondfield Road, becoming the third generation of LaGravinese jewelers in New York.

As a result of a long history in a family business, Robert has a lot of advice to share and knowledge about owning a business.

Here is what Robert LaGravinese has to say about owning a jewelry store in Bronxville: 

Why did you choose this as your business?

I always watched my father and his passion for the business and my grandfather and as a little kid I use to sit in his lap and watch him at the bench doing jewelry work. I was really fascinated by it.

And even though I had a choice to do other things, like I said I am a musician – I love piano, I love music. I always grew up in this business and just saw how passionate my father was and I developed a passion for it also.

It has been very nice to me and good to me over the years and I have been nice back to it.

How did you get started in your business?

It's a family business. I watched my father, I went to school for gemology, to learn about gems and diamonds and colored stones and I taught in a lab there and worked in the classrooms.

My father, he had a store in Pelham and when the store became available in Bronxville he said to me “Okay, we can acquire this store if you are ready and if you are interested.” And me and my brother did it. I was 20 at the time and sincethen, I am still here.

What was your toughest challenge to overcome?

The economy is difficult now. There are always challenges in business, because I was a young kid and I had to make a name for myself. I didn’t rest on my parent’s or father’s laurels, I had to make my own name.

So I took each individual person and started from scratch. I just built the business, little by little, just trying to be honest and fair and kind. And that is what I have always done and that is what I continue to do.

What's the thing you like most about your business?

I like the creation part of it, creating jewelry at the bench. Watching pieces go from start to finish – from a concept to a finished product.

And just seeing people’s faces, because when people have some idea in their mind, they don’t really know the finished product ‘til it’s done. Just to see their reaction when I finish the product and I present it to them. It is really, really nice to see.

What's the thing you dislike the most about your business?

A lot of the people in the business right now are really not jewelers. They are just buying and selling. Jewelers I feel should be jewelers – at the bench jewelers. Not just people that buy and sell.

And it has become a very watered down business now that there are so many people in it. Which is nice too, but I just feel that we are jewelers and we are actual bench jewelers. To me a jeweler means somebody who sits at a bench and gets things done. Not everybody is doing that right now.

What makes you different from your competition?

We do our own work. Other people do their own work, but most don’t really do their own work.

I have been in Westchester longer than almost anybody I can think about. I have been in Bronxville and am one of the few retailers that is still here now.

Everything is just transitional.

I have stayed and I have been welcomed and I continue to be welcomed here after all these year because I have such a passion for the business.

What suggestions would you have for someone who wants to go into business today?

You have to get an education. Education is really important. You can learn bench work – there are schools for bench work. Being a gemologist is a great help because there are so many imitations out there, synthetics.

You can really be fooled if you really don’t know your gemstones. Knowledge is really, really important in this business. And knowledge is key almost in any business, but especially here.

What do you wish you had known before you started your business?

I wish I would have known the ups and downs of the economy. Like you think if things are great one year, they are always going to be great and better and better. But the economy is an ups and downs thing.

And I was more interested in the business. I wasn’t really savvy about economy and economics. I have seen ups and downs so much in the business.

I didn’t realize that things are cyclical in every business. But I know that now. I probably would have saved a little more when things were up.

What is your definition of success?

Being happy with what you do that’s really the most important thing. It’s really not about money. If you do what you love…the money will follow. That really is true. The secret of success is just do what you love.

What is the secret to your success?

The secret to my success is my love of working with people. I treat everybody as a friend; it is not just a customer relationship. A lot of people have come to me for years and years because I treat everybody as friends and that is my nature.

Download the movie