London Jewelers: The Treasure Chest of Glen Cove

Call it body art of an elegant bent or eye candy for eye candy. Jewelry . . . OK, we can live without it, but why would we want to? 

And, in Glen Cove, residents enjoy access to the flagship location of one of the most extensive, most experienced and most innovative independent jewelers on Long Island— London Jewelers.   

Established in 1926 by Charles London, mostly winding and repairing clocks for the well-heeled at the area's Gold Coast mansions, London Jewelers is into its fourth generation as a family-owned business.  

"I bought the original little store from my father-in-law in 1947," said Mayer Udell, who, at 92, still comes in to work at the School Street store. "He had a successful sweater manufacturing business in Bay Shore and thought the watch and jewelry operation, would make a good second business. I went for courses in watch-making and jewelry repair, developed contacts with more and more suppliers and kept upgrading the store."   

Udell has two sons, Ira, who is chairman of North Shore-LIJ Health System's Ophthalmology Department; and Mark, who said, he fell in love with the business when he was 5. Mark graduated from the University of Miami in May 1973 and began working at the Glen Cove store in June of that year. He met his wife, Candy, in college; they were married in their early 20s, and they continued Udell's work by upgrading the company.   

"Candy had a great sense of design, working with displays right from the outset," Mark said.   

They moved into the current location in 1974, when they bought the building, and Mark began what would become a pivotal relationship in transforming the business.    

"I began pursuing Rolex," he said. "Rolex, however, has very exacting standards and we had this small store. They kept turning us down, but we kept upgrading the store and our merchandise and I wouldn't let go of them." 

After two years, Rolex decided to let London carry its product.   

"Once you have Rolex," Mark said, "everyone wants to do business with you."  

Next, Mark and Candy began traveling overseas to improve the product line. 

"We'd go to suppliers in Italy and Switzerland, the fair in Basel, and see new products a year before they would begin hitting the shelves in the U.S.," he said. "That allowed us to really upgrade the merchandise and the effect on the growth in our business was incredible."  

The next big challenge was adding a second store. 

"When you have one store, you work in the same location, you know your customers," Mark explained. "Adding the second store creates a whole new business model. But once you succeed at that, you have the working model to expand further."  

Next came a store at the Americana Manhasset in 1985. It was located at the back of the mall until 1996, when it moved to the front, then it expanded in 2005.  In the interim, Mark said, the family added locations in East Hampton in 1996 and South Hampton in 2002.   

New Generation of Jewelers

Given the family lineage, it is not surprising that both of Mark and Candy's children are involved in the family business.  Their son, Scott, who graduated from Syracuse University and the Gemological Institute of America, specializes in buying stones, particularly diamonds, an element of the business that is very demanding given all the types and grades of gems available.   

Their daughter, Randi, works alongside her mother to source new fashion-forward jewelry lines. She also works with existing brands in the buying and creative departments and in marketing and advertising as well.    

The Udells' penchant for exploring new territory has been taken to a whole new level with, Randi, who has become a gifted jewelry designer.   

"While I was in college, I began to make a line of jewelry by hand, and sold it out of my apartment," she said.  "My greatest pleasure was watching people wear my designs. During my last year in college, I joined Honora, a pearl company, and worked side by side with the head jewelry designer." 

Today Randi continues to employ her passion for design, with a special, Randi Elyse line she has created, exclusively for London Jewelers. 

With the withering levels of competition in all businesses today, differentiation, establishing a recognizable brand image of your own, is one of the great challenges. There is little doubt, over its 84-year existence, London Jewelers has managed to accomplish that.   

"My objective was always to move beyond the generic brands," Mark said. "We knew we were in a very wealthy marketplace with a tremendous need for an independent jeweler to provide far more interesting product."   

"Now, we carry the finest merchandize anywhere in the country," added Udell, with a smile, clearly proud of his family, his particular legacy.   

Learn more about this business by visiting londonjewelers.com. Check out the store's Randi Elyse line by clicking here.