Paul Hargrave is hunched over a workbench, spotlights splintering into a thousand rays through the diamond in his fingers. He turns it delicately, examining the pattern of refraction, then lifts the jewel to the gem scope. He visually traces every facet, then scrutinizes the jewel again, and again-through refractometer, polariscope, spectroscope. With today's faux technology, precious gems are easily copied, but by tests' end Paul will know if the diamond is true or false.
Paul Hargrave is continuing a legacy. He represents the dream of a father, a grandmother and a great grandfather who built a thriving company from one end of the twentieth century to the other. In the twenty-first century he will manage that family business-Robson's Diamond Jewelers in Baytown, Texas.
Robert Robson, great grandfather to Paul, was born in the late 1800's in North Shields, England. He learned the intricacies of mechanical watch making while producing chronometers with the English company Wilson and Gillie. The chronometer was a nautical instrument used to determine longitude at sea, requiring precise timekeeping and adaptability to varied climates. It was ideal training for a young watchmaker.
Robson left England in 1903 for the United States and settled in the first town he reached, Gulfport, Mississippi. For three years he employed his watch making skills at J.D. Radford Jewelry, then he moved to Live Oak, Florida where he met his bride, Hattie Florence Larsen.
The young couple moved westward early in their marriage, to Baton Rouge, Lake Charles, and eventually to Baytown in 1926, where newfound oilfields had created an economic boom. Robson went alone at first to the Tri-Cities, as Baytown was then called. The local economy had exploded so quickly that it took six months for him to find housing for his family. Robson's Jewelry store opened two years later in the Brunson Building in Old Baytown, and the next two decades brought three additional moves as the business expanded: through the Guberman Building and two locations in the Stiles Building, both on Texas Avenue.
Robson and his family were committed to the success of the business. His five children helped at the store, being trained to offer expert jewelry and watch repair with warmth and professionalism. It was this commitment to quality and service that carried Robson's Jewelry store through its most difficult times-the war years.
During those years, Robson's store was chosen to be the official servicing site for railroad watches. Like the marine chronometers on which Robson had originally learned to keep time, railroad watches were required to be highly precise. One minute of error could cause a railroad catastrophe, in days when railroads were the lifeblood of the economy.
"It was the only thing that kept the store alive," said Norman Robson Hargrave, grandson of the store's founder. "People came from all over the place with their railroad watches. They were required to have a card signed that stated where the watch had been serviced, and we were that official location."
When Robson retired in the 1940's, his eldest daughter, Grace Robson Hargrave, along with her husband, Norman, took over operation of the business. Grace was no newcomer to the fine jewelry business, having managed the store in prior years with her brother Bob while her father recovered from a severe car accident.
As the couple operated the store, their son Norman R. Hargrave worked with them, growing alongside the business. Then in 1981, after 39 years of service, Grace and her husband retired, placing young Norman at the helm.
Norman's goal for the family business has been expansion and modernization. Within three years, he began achieving those goals as the store made its fourth move to West Baker Drive in Baytown, its current location. Hargrave's original building plan included a large two-story facility, but a downturn in the economy and the discovery of another opportunity changed those plans.
The Baytown Exxon Refinery was dismantling a stout computer building it no longer needed, and Hargrave contracted to buy the building and have it reassembled on West Baker Drive. Piece by piece the building was reconstructed - every wall made up of 6-inch thick reinforced concrete and steel, and the numerous concrete and steel roof beams weighing 30,000 pounds each.
Bricks that had been fired in the 1920s were salvaged and used in decorative areas of the new store-at the front entrance and on the hearth of the cozy fireplace. The bricks are uniquely made with the name "Texas" etched between two open stars.
A hands-on manager, Norman is still involved in every facet of the store's operation today, from web design to assembly of the store's community Christmas tree, a Baytown tradition since the mid 1990's. Though he continues to operate the eighty year old business, Norman is also gradually passing the torch to his son, Paul, the fourth generation of Robsons/Hargraves.
Like many of his forerunners, Paul was raised in the jewelry business. From carrying scraps of construction materials to the trash pile as a toddler to cleaning jewelry cases and making deliveries as an after school job, Paul has observed his father's work, and come to love it.
After high school graduation, he attended the Gemological Institute of America in Carlsbad, California, alternately attending school on location and completing distance education courses, until 2003 when he received his Graduate Gemologist degree.
Paul's practical training took place in the "lab" of his family's business. The store contains an impressive collection of jewelers' equipment, an extension of his dad's commitment to modernization and quality.
"We have got to have the best tools," said Norman. "Paul is very good about what he does. He's been to school and gained the knowledge he needs to work in this trade, but you need both knowledge and equipment today to recognize fine jewelry. A lot of jewelers get into trouble because they don't have the ability or tools to recognize the differences in value."
Grace Hargrave, Paul's grandmother who passed away in early 2005 at the age of 94, had one other tip for the young jeweler following her path:
"Know your people," she said. "Know who they are and what they need, and you will be better able to serve them."
Twenty-six year-old Paul is prepared to do that.
"The jewelry business is something I enjoy doing," he said. "Dad is slowly giving me more and more responsibilities, but I've still got a lot to learn. Even so, I feel really excited about filling my dad's shoes."
If Paul continues in the Robson tradition, those shoes will be a perfect fit in a very short time.
| Right-Hand Rings | Robson's Catalogue | ||
| Home | Contact Us | ||