Martin Baydar: 'One-Of-A-Kind' Designer

At the age of thirteen Martin Baydar began working in his father's jewelry store in Istanbul, Turkey. Some forty years later – nearly half of which he has spent as owner of – Baydar has earned a solid reputation and a loyal clientele by designing and crafting one-of-a-kind pieces.

"I began learning from my father and my two uncles, who were all jewelers," Baydar said. "I would watch them in the store, at the bench, how they made the piece... I learned and I practiced. Since then, that is all I have known."

After moving to the United States at the age of 22, Baydar initially landed a position running the jewelry department for a major department store. However, while as a newly-married young man, he enjoyed the stability and insurance benefits that came with the job, it also came with great responsibility.

"It burned me out, and I said 'I could do it myself,'" he said. "So I left and started my own business."

"I've been in this location for about 16 or 17 years. The store has actually been here since 1955, then Mr. Anthony retired, and I took over," he said. 

Along the way, Baydar attended classes at the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) the world's foremost authority in gemology, diamond grading and jewelry education.

"I wanted to know diamonds and grading..." he said. "I do everything from scratch here... restringing, diamond settings, castings, mountings...whatever is related to jewelry."

One gratifying aspect of the business is the family event that ear piercing for children has become. "I do a huge ear piercing business... it's one of my major conversation pieces here," he notes. "And it's a big thing to my customers."  

"There are the kids, the parents, and even a lot of grandparents. They come with a camera and take pictures," he smiles. "It brings the family together."

Over the years, Baydar has built a reputation in the community.

"I've lived in this town for 40 years and I've been in and out of this store a great number of times," said longtime customer, Bill Fay. "I've never found anyone that beats him... he's very fair and he's a nice man to do business with."

Early on, Baydar was drawn to the design part of the business. He loved the reaction he got from customers with his one-of-a-kind pieces.

"The artistic side, there is no training for that... you have to feel it," Baydar said."And I found I was good at designing...creating."

"I still enjoy that today... making something different and seeing how happy it makes people," Baydar said. And he still regularly attends annual jewelry shows in Italy and Switzerland to keep abreast of fashion trends.

That design sense has earned Baydar many loyal customers, whom he credits with helping him weather the difficult economic times. He recalls one particular occasion where a customer made her loyalty crystal clear.

One year on December 26, a regular customer came in to buy a belated Christmas gift for his wife. It seems he had been out of town on a business trip and, short on time, had picked something up at the airport jewelry store.

"When she saw it and realized it hadn't come from my store," said Baydar with an apologetic grin, "She refused to open it."

In addition to jewelry sales, specializes in jewelry and watch repair. Visit them at 30 Cold Spring Road or call 516.921.5151.