Larry Cohen’s father, Jacob, began a jewellery enterprise in Chicago within the early Nineteen Fifties. When Cohen was 6 years previous, his father introduced him to work. He sat the boy down on some Yellow Pages so he may attain the workbench and gave him a pair of tweezers, an previous watch and a screwdriver and instructed him to take the watch aside.

“Actually, in quarter-hour, I knew what I used to be going to do the remainder of my life,” mentioned Cohen.

As we speak, Cohen is the proprietor of Elite Jewellery and Mortgage, residence of Elite Fantastic Jewelers, and is often known as “The Gold Man,” with three shops that go by that identify.

Cohen moved to Arizona 13 years in the past, following his three youngsters who all attended Arizona State College. The household are members of Chabad at ASU Smetana Household Shul on the Levenbaum Chabad Home in Tempe.

He opened his personal fantastic jewellery retailer at 18 in Chicago and purchased and bought jewellery shops by way of the years. When Cohen arrived in Arizona, he seen an abundance of gold-buying shops. Along with his expertise within the jewellery enterprise, he began doing gold-buying events at totally different places and in individuals’s houses and opened eight gold-buying shops within the Better Phoenix space.

He mentioned the origin of The Gold Man shops’ identify was beshert. He and his spouse, Beth, have been at a restaurant when a pair waved them down. “Aren’t you the gold man?’ they requested. Cohen admitted he was, they usually instructed him they’d attended one in every of his gold-buying events. After they have been leaving, one other girl approached him and requested if he was the gold man.

“We did a celebration at her home, too,” Cohen mentioned. “The identical day, on the similar time, two individuals requested me, “Aren’t you the gold man?” These two individuals gave us the identify. It was actually loopy.”

When the gold-buying craze began to wind down, Cohen determined to shift gears and return to his unique roots within the jewellery enterprise. In 2016, he opened Elite Fantastic Jewelers.

“We wished to work together with individuals, to do good issues for the group and good issues for individuals,” mentioned Cohen. “Not for one second do I’ve any regrets. It was the most effective factor I ever did. To have the ability to watch my youngsters enhance the enterprise is past my comprehension.”

The shop’s every day operations are run as a household affair. Cohen, his spouse and their three grownup youngsters Ashley, Justin and Abby, in addition to his nephew Jake, could be discovered within the retailer at 805 N. Scottsdale Street in Tempe designing customized jewellery, holding consultations, shopping for, promoting and buying and selling diamonds and treasured jewels — simply because the Cohen relations earlier than them had completed within the Nineteen Fifties.

Every one of many youngsters have their very own forte within the enterprise. Justin Cohen turned fascinated in highschool with the grading system of diamonds and the elements used to categorise them and has elevated his information over time. Abby Cohen is an appraiser, changing into a graduate gemologist from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), one of the vital prestigious credentials you’ll be able to obtain within the business.

“She did it in two years,” mentioned Cohen. “I do know those that took ten years to do it.”

Ashley Cohen-Isaacson is savvy with social media and handles the advertising facet of the enterprise. She is also the mom of two younger boys, Ethan, 8 and Ezra, 5.

Cohen shared a chunk of Jewish trivia about his grandsons’ genetics. “I’m a Cohanim [the priestly family of the Jewish people, members of the Tribe of Levi and direct descendants of Aaron, the brother of Moses] and my son-in-law can be a Cohanim. It’s fascinating — and uncommon — {that a} Cohanim’s daughter married one other Cohanim.”

Genetics apart, Cohen is anxious to carry his grandsons to work. “I’m going to carry Ethan in on Saturdays to get him began,” mentioned Cohen. “I’m decided to see at the very least 4 generations within the enterprise.” He jokes that he’s already assigning the grandchildren titles: Justin’s 19-month-old daughter goes to be bookkeeper sometime.

Not solely does the household work collectively, however in addition they take holidays collectively. And even when all of them exit to dinner, they speak concerning the enterprise.

“If we’re all collectively, we’ll inevitably speak concerning the enterprise and none of my youngsters have ever mentioned, ‘We’re not speaking enterprise.’” mentioned Cohen.

“Yeah, I’ve by no means felt like, ‘Sufficient! Would you cease speaking about it?’” mentioned Cohen-Isaacson. “It’s by no means something that’s crossed my thoughts as a result of it’s enjoyable. It’s, ‘How may we do higher? What concepts do now we have for the longer term?’ It’s good brainstorming.”

Cohen-Isaacson mentioned that it’s enjoyable working with the household and typically prospects don’t understand they’re all siblings. “Generally we’ll bicker and I’m like, ‘Oh sorry, that is my sister, I wouldn’t usually speak to an worker like that.’”

On the finish of the day although, she mentioned everybody has one another’s again and steps in if somebody is sick or there’s a problem with the youngsters.

“We’re very blessed,” mentioned Beth Cohen. “Everyone had an curiosity in it and wished to maintain it going.”

Larry Cohen mentioned the key is discovering every baby’s ardour within the enterprise early on. “That is what’s going to proceed bringing them in and wanting to return right here — similar to my father did for me.

“The joy and the curiosity are so robust that they need to be right here. Each one in every of my youngsters, no matter they’re doing is ardour pushed.” JN

For extra details about Elite Fantastic Jewelers, go to elitefinejewelers.com.