Studio Pandora

Oct 16

In their own words

“We grew our business with elk ivory jewelry. People started demanding Montana jewelry, and I ended up making much more Montana jewelry than I expected. When I opened the store, I was expecting it to be just my designs and silver jewelry. I didn’t have any gold jewelry, and now the majority of my inventory is gold. I have to change with customer demands.”

-Karahan Balli

Jason’s Interview with Karahan

Jason

We're back on Meet the Jewelers and today we're talking to Karahan Balli from Studio Pandora in Missoula, Montana. How did you get into the industry, Karahan?

Karahan

I actually started in my father’s business back in Turkey. He did jewelry and some souvenirs. After school, I would go to my father’s store and clean. As I grew up, years later, I started working at a jewelry store and since then, I've been working in the jewelry industry. Two years after I came to the States, I got into jewelry again. I decided to open my store about twenty-three years ago. So I do retail, wholesale, and estate. We grew with elk jewelry, being in Montana where the hunters get their elk. I've been a goldsmith for over thirty-five years. Creating something for a customer and seeing their faces when the piece is done is such a wonderful feeling.

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Jason
When people enter your store, what's the feeling?

Karahan
We are a really comfortable environment. The customers can walk around. If they have questions, we can answer any. We have coffee together and we talk about their families. The majority of my friends are from my business. That's how I meet them because I've been spending almost all my time at the store. We do custom jewelry mainly. It's really personal.

Jason
You've probably been part of a lot of engagement proposals. Tell us some exciting ones.

Karahan
Well, being in Montana, we have customers looking for different proposals. I have quite a few customers who want to just get on their knees and ask them to marry them in the backcountry when they are snowmobiling or skiing. The first thing I recommend is to tie a fishing line. If you drop it on the snow, you’re not going to find that till spring. They propose on top of the mountains most of the time.

Jason
Why are you in the jewelry industry?

Karahan
Well, it was my father. Him being a jeweler, watching him make jewelry, and helping customers. I love working with the customers. I was born into the business, my brother is a jeweler, my sister was a jeweler.

Jason
How many people do you employ now?

Karahan
Right now, I have three employees and I'm looking to hire a gentleman from Spain. He's a really wonderful jeweler and I'm looking forward to meeting with him next month.

Jason
You've done so much for the community in Missoula. Tell us a few of the key causes that you stand behind.

Karahan
Well, for many years, I was working with wildlife jewelry. I started donating to a foundation that restores habitat for elk. And I work with Measles Foundation, Ducks Unlimited Pheasants Forever, Trout Unlimited, SFW—these are all wildlife organizations that try to restore habitats for wildlife. One thing I decided in my second year in business was not doing any advertisements. The budget I have for advertisements, I will give it back to my customers—we will repair things for no charge or we will give really large discounts on certain things. That became my advertisement. It really works for me and I make my customers happy.

Jason
Tell us about a couple of your custom pieces that you're most proud of.

Karahan
Years back when I was working in a chain store in Cheyenne, Wyoming, a customer came in and said, “Our father's dying. I want to have a memory from him.” In the catalog, you can order the script and get a fingerprint and then make it into a necklace. At that point, I was pretty new to fingerprint jewelry. I didn't have any idea what she was talking about, so she described it to me. You get the impression on wax and the only wax I had available was jeweler's wax, which is a really high temperature compared to waxes used for fingerprints. So, I melted wax in a tin cup and I showed her how to warm it up with a lighter. I told her, “I don't know if this will work.” We experimented a couple times at the store. And she went back and got her father's fingerprints. She came back to me about three, four days later, told me her father passed and gave me those waxes with the fingerprints. I was able to make it into a pendant—one for her and one for her mother. About two months later, I got a telephone call from a local radio station and they told me I was nominated for a Positivity Award by the Chamber of Commerce because of the customer calling them.

Jason
There's so many great jewelers around Montana. Tell us why they should work with you?

Karahan
I like teaching. We recycle in many ways. We try to recycle metal or ethical stones from different parts of the world. So, we try to teach ethical sides of the business as well. And that's what I learned from my father. He was a wonderful man, he was really articulate, he taught me from a young age, how to run the business and how to treat your customers. We are not here just to sell. It shows. We want to help the customers.

Jason
What are some things that he taught you that you remember till this day?

Karahan
One thing he told me, he said, always work first. The one thing I really adopted is work ethic.

Jason
Why should people trust you?

Karahan
Well, first, I will talk to my customers. Ask me any questions you need to be comfortable with me. It's the relationship with your customer and being patient with the customers.