“You need to develop what I call ‘eye of colours’,” she said.
“You have to stay with it. You can’t take a break. You need to always focus on the trend,” he said.
Owner Hopewixon shows customers the options for ring gems. (Leila Navidi/Minnesota Star Tribune)
Dan grew up in Ghent, Minnesota, about 300 towns near Marshall in southwestern Minnesota. His father was a butcher who worked for hours and days to help farmers and customers.
“He was a really good businessman with high standards and I love how I think we carried,” Dan said. He places a photograph of his father in the break room.
After serving as an army hygienist during the Vietnam War, Dan returned to Minnesota and worked in the antique business for most of the 1970s and 1980s. By dealing with real estate sales, he learned about gems. When he finally opened his own shop, it was something he wanted to do more, but only occupying part of the Lindale building.
“Every jewelry store there stops at a certain level, and that is always determined by the owner’s mentality,” Dan said. “If the owner is the person who repairs the jewels, he will have a jewellery store for repairs. If the owner is convinced that he cannot sell two carat diamonds, it is where he will stop. There is, he is a jeweler of one carat diamond. You cannot limit yourself like that.”
