Most Memphians are probably aware that Mednikow Jewelers is the place to go for fine jewelry. In their Perkins Avenue store, you can find a dazzling array of engagement and wedding rings, bracelets, earrings and necklaces from the finest jewelry brands available. But many may not know that Mednikow Jewelers can help you create one-of-a-kind customized jewelry using their exceptional gemstones and metals.
Mednikow’s jewelry design business often begins with the customer. You can bring in a drawing or photograph of your dream jewelry, and Mednikow’s specialized designers and certified gemologists will make it happen, including restyling a family heirloom. Other times, owner Jay Mednikow designs jewelry based on his deep personal interest in creating beauty. As a fifth-generation owner, Jay was born into the jewelry business and came back after a stint on Wall Street. “I had other options, but I returned due to my love of jewelry. I run the jewelry business on the side to support my jewelry habit.”
Jay loves attending gemstone trade shows. Here he is able to hand-select truly unique gems straight from the miners and gemstone cutters. “Sometimes the jewelry starts with a design, and you find the best gem to complete that concept. Other times, you start with a gem that you absolutely love and create a design to best showcase its beauty.”
Jay is quick to point out that there are many additional details that go into creating a fine piece of jewelry. “Like a skyscraper, you need your product to be structurally secure.” If the product isn’t handled properly, the precious metals like gold can melt or become dented if they are too thin. The placement of the gemstone and the prongs within the design are crucial to ensuring a lasting, high-quality product. Jay adds, “In the jewelry business, a tenth of a millimeter makes a difference in how an item reflects the light and holds together.” Once the final product has been created, a polish and deep clean will maximize the brilliance, shine and texture of the jewelry.
Lab-grown diamonds have enabled Jay to greatly expand the variety and depth of his jewelry design business. “Given the affordability of lab-grown diamonds, I am no longer constrained by cost in my ability to create beauty.” Jay says that the lab-grown diamonds look like the natural ones and have the same desired qualities. “They are hard, neutral in color and transmit light like no other natural diamond – they are the ideal gemstone around which to create jewelry.”
Each one of Jay’s team of highly skilled jewelers has a college degree in jewelry design and over ten years of experience in the business. During their initial apprenticeships, Jay teaches them how to create jewelry in “the Mednikow style,” considering angles, thickness and contours of the various components. Jay is the ultimate quality control, scrutinizing each piece under a magnifying glass. “I’m a stickler. I will definitely make adjustments where necessary and very rarely tell the jeweler to start over. You have to be so careful with everything – you can’t add metal back.”
Founded in 1891, Mednikow is one of only a handful of traditional jewelry firms that are still managed by the original owners. Five generations of Mednikows have owned and run the firm with Jay adding an economics degree from Harvard University and an MBA from Duke’s Fuqua School of Business to the wealth of experience. Jay’s daughter has chosen to study business in preparation for joining her father in the family business. Like Jay, she has decided that the jewelry business is part of her DNA, and she has an incredible desire to live in Memphis and become involved in the community.
When Jay is not creating jewelry, he is belting out songs with his award-winning a capella group, Delta Capella. Although they have performed across the country and in China, Delta Capella is just one of the ways in which Jay gives back to the city he loves.