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Family shapes your past, present and future. And sometimes—if you’re lucky—they help chart the course for your entire life. For the Kluh family of Lacey’s Kluh Jewelers, Matt and Suzanne are a fourth generation shining example of dedication to industry, history and community.

Kluh Jewelers Matt and Suzanne Kluh
Matt and Suzanne are a fourth generation owners of Kluh Jewelers. Photo courtesy: Kluh Jewelers

Kluh Jewelers was started in 1958 by Matt’s grandparents. Ted and Sissie met while working for Wiesfield Jewelers in Seattle. After they were married, Weisfield’s sent them to California to open a store in Fresno.  After several years in California, the Kluhs were lured back to the Pacific Northwest by a longtime love of the water and opened their first shop together in downtown Olympia.

“Our family’s been into boating forever,” laughs Matt Kluh. “Big, small, sail, fast, slow, paddle, we love it all. Papa Ted served in the Coast Guard and all subsequent generations have shared his passion for boats, everything from kayaks to speedboats.

Ted and Sissie had three sons and one daughter. All three boys went into the family business, which grew to stores in Chehalis, Lacey, Olympia, Puyallup, Aberdeen, Lakewood, Tacoma, Seatac, and Seattle. In the 1980s, this mini jewelry empire was distributed between the three sons.

From a very young age, Matt worked in the family business. “Every family member has worked in a jewelry store at some point,” he recalls. Starting at 10-years-old, he was cleaning glass display cases and carefully wrapping packages for happy customers.

The Legacy Lives On

Keep an eye out for the cute Kluh Jewelers’ bug! Photo credit: Stacey Jurss

Currently, Matt and Suzanne Kluh have a newly built showroom in Lacey. Matt bought his father’s share of the business in 2011 with a deep desire “to own our own building but keep it in the heart of Lacey” where they’ve lived for many years.

The location at 810 Sleater Kinney Road SE was destined to be. Matt remembers spending many school-age birthdays and rollicking pizza parties on-site back when it was Pietro’s Pizza. Transformed from the ground up, the site is a now a fully customized showcase for their stunning new jewelry and expanded estate collection – often selling at half the price of new. More than 300 guests celebrated the grand opening in November 2018. “We do our part to put a shiny spot on Lacey,” says Suzanne, “through diamonds or a beautiful building.”

Outside of new jewelry, the store can evaluate, re-style, and even buy unwanted pieces. They also replace watch batteries and can provide short-term pawn services on approved items. Looking for something special? Let them create a fully custom piece using their in-house expertise or a downloadable app with plenty of help from staff available to answer questions along the way. Turnaround time varies in this growing field, but ranges approximately 4 to 6 weeks.

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Steve is the in-store goldsmith at Kluh Jewelers. Here, Steve is using a jeweler’s torch to solder a broken shank. Photo credit: Stacey Jurss

For repairs, the Kluhs stress that your items never leave their store and are handled with love by our in-store goldsmith who’s been on staff for over 35 years. A state-of-the-art laser welder is used for detailed work, extremely small repairs, or on material (such as gemstones) that can’t take the heat of a traditional torch repair. With pinpoint accuracy, highly skilled and trained technicians work at microscopic levels to make virtually invisible fixes.

Giving Back to Their Community

The Kluhs believe in giving back to the community that has supported their family for generations. They are involved in community organizations like Lacey Rotary, Lacey South Sound Chamber of Commerce, and Capital Lakefair. As the jewelry sponsor of Capital Lakefair, the Kluhs create stunning sterling silver charm bracelets for Lakefair Royalty. The girls receive a new charm for each parade in which they participate representing the event. “I believe it’s important to help the young ladies grow,” says Kluh, “It’s a talented group.” As a company, they’ve also long sought out high schoolers to provide first job or summer work opportunities. After 60+ years, that’s a whole lot of valuable job experience they have supplied youth in our community.

Within Rotary, Kluh—like his father before him—raises money for scholarships and local organizations. “Rotary is really important in that it gives money back locally and I know exactly where it’s going,” says Matt. Kluh Jewelers has aided Homeless Backpacks, Toys for Tots, Thurston County Food Bank, the Washington Center for the Performing Arts, Foofaraw, and many other local charities over the years.

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Steve uses a state-of-the-art Rofin Laser Welder to retip prongs on an emerald ring. Photo credit: Stacey Jurss

As small business owners, it is important to the Kluhs to champion other local businesses. This year alone, Kluh Jewelers has co-sponsored events with Ricardo’s, Stottle Winery, and Linnea’s A Unique Boutique. “We all succeed when we support each other,” says Kluh.

Find out the latest news and event listings on Facebook and Instagram. You can also sign up for their mailing list. “It is mostly event driven,” explains Suzanne, “We’re very respectful of not bombarding people with email.”

“To reach a port we must sail, sometimes with the wind, and sometimes against it. But we must not drift or lie at anchor,” said Oliver Wendell Holmes. The Kluh family has made their port in the heart of Lacey and never stops striving to make things better. Visit the showroom Monday through Saturday or anytime via the Kluh Jewelers website.

Kluh Jewelers – Lacey
810 Sleater Kinney Road SE, Lacey
360-491-3530

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