We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tracy Wilke a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Tracy, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a time you helped a customer really get an amazing result through their work with you.

I’ve known this man a long time. After his wife passed away he started seeing a wonderful woman. They’d known each other for many years and had actually been friends as couples and done things together. I’d met her and got a sense of her style. When the man came in to purchase a wedding ring he wanted it to be a complete surprise and so did she. We picked out a very nice 2.00 carat round brilliant and put it in a large but simple setting with side diamonds Four couples who were friends went to New York and were out for dinner. My customer came in after they were back and with an astounded look on his face he told me that after dinner the women started talking about their wedding rings. All four put their hands in the middle of the table saying, “let’s compare them”. He looked at me with his small smile and said, “and mine was the best”. I love helping direct men to their best ring. That goes for all kinds of gifts and personal jewelry choices as well – a jewelry gift from the heart brings a great deal of joy.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I never expected to work in jewelry. I was hired when I was between jobs and I intended it to be temporary. I remember wearing brooches to school even when I was in kindergarten and have always been attracted to jewelry and spending time with people. Helping people find jewelry that speaks to them is a very rewarding way to spend a day. Whether it’s me, Dario or Mila, the third member of our team, we all really care about everyone who comes in that door. We educate people and we treat them as we want to be treated.
I am proud of the work we do since Dario Pirozko (my business partner) is a skilled artisan and we constantly hear compliments on both custom and repair work. Dario was intending to go into architecture until he was “waylaid” into jewelry making. He is very talented artistically as well as a true craftsman. Both qualities are needed to make beautiful jewelry. We have many behind the scenes discussions and consultations about techniques to make a piece as perfect as it can be.
Jewelry is so much more than “a purchase”. It incorporates peoples’ love and dreams and often history; we truly feel honored when people trust us in this way. We invite people to stop by any time with jewelry to check and clean, and certainly feel free to ask us any questions you have about jewelry. It may seem mystical but we want to be as transparent in our work as we can and your questions and concerns are very important to us. We can help you make decisions on the right style of jewelry for you, give advice on what to do with jewelry you inherit and we have many ideas to offer on gifts.
The store began in Arlington Heights Illinois in 1929 (during the Great Depression) and Dario and I became partners in 1999. We have a lot of experience, “standing on shoulders of giants” as they say. We have met so many amazing people through the jewelry store and we have learned so much from them. We want to give back to our customers, friends and community. This is our 95th year and we are excited as we look forward to service in lovely Sierra Madre.

Alright – let’s talk about marketing or sales – do you have any fun stories about a risk you’ve taken or something else exciting on the sales and marketing side?

I had a customer who purchased a lovely pendant which had matching earrings. I knew she appreciated wearing matching sets. Her husband came in later and I showed him the earrings, but he wasn’t convinced and got her something else. I just knew she’d love the set. What I ended up doing was putting an ad in a local newspaper that I knew she read and made them the centerpiece of the ad. He came in at Christmas and bought them for her. I was thrilled to be able to reach her that way. She was a wonderful woman and deserved the love and appreciation her husband gave her.

Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?

We were fortunate in that working for an established business we had access to vendors; suppliers of all kinds of things. Stone dealers, precious metals, diamonds, equipment, etc. We have experienced people who do our casting and watch repair since we do not have the room to incorporate it with us at this location. We are able to offer laser and hand engraving, and laser welding which has revolutionized repairing platinum pieces, all due to artisan contacts we’ve made. As we took over and grew we needed and made new contacts all the time. Sometimes to replace businesses that retired or moved or changed focus. In our search for intriguing colored stones we’ve met many people who offer different colors and amazing cuts. We know gem and jewelry importers from South America, a woman who utilizes a jewelry making family in Bali for production of her unique pieces, we’ve met people in the antique and estate arena who either have broad selections of vintage jewelry or are very specialized. It’s fascinating to learn about the different properties of colored stones, learning the number of varieties of the standard stones you all know about – how many colors do garnets and sapphires come in? California’s official state gemstone is Benitoite, which is quite rare. I know because we had to find it once for a request. We learned how diamonds in Botswana fund school for many, even including the President’s wife, and also fund keeping much of the country wild and natural. Dario has refined his jewelry techniques over the years by trial and error as well as interaction with other goldsmiths. New alloys of metals are always on the scene and we are constantly learning new things about our craft. I could go on and on. (Like I did here…) Please come in and ask us about jewelry because I love to talk about it and Dario loves to bring it to life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ghwilkejewelry.com
• Instagram: gh_wilkejewelry
• Facebook: G. H. Wilke & Co.
• Yelp: Wilke G H & Co