A repair bench in 1979, a jeweler ever since.
Edmund Penhallow opened a one-bench repair shop on Chestnut Street in 1979. His daughter Thea, a GIA graduate gemologist, has run it since 2014 and keeps his bench by the window.
Forty-seven years, one address.
This neighborhood made jewelry for the whole country for a hundred years. The factories are offices now; our bench is still here.
1979
The shop opens
Edmund leaves a findings factory down the street and opens a repair bench with one display case.
1988
The first custom ring
A customer brings a sketch on a napkin. Edmund casts it, and custom work becomes half the business.
2009
Mateus joins
A young setter from Cranston takes the second bench and never leaves.
2014
Thea takes over
Edmund retires, and his daughter adds a gemologist’s desk and a CAD station.
2019
Lab-grown in the case
We start offering lab-grown diamonds next to natural ones, clearly labeled and priced on their own.
2026
Forty-seven years
More than 4,000 rings made, and the same bench by the window.
One small shop, four stations.
The counter, the bench, the microscope and the safe, all within twenty feet, so the person who sketches your ring can hand it straight to the person who makes it.
The counter
Front room
Daylight lamps
Where stones are compared side by side under the loupe.
Know where every stone comes from.
Recycled gold and platinum
All our casting grain is recycled precious metal from a certified refiner, not newly mined.
The people behind the bench.
Owner and gemologist
Thea Penhallow
Grew up sweeping filings off this floor, earned her GIA Graduate Gemologist diploma in 2011 and took over from her father in 2014. She runs every consultation.
The best way to know us is a consultation.
Thea and Mateus are both in the shop Tuesday to Saturday. Ask to look through the microscope.