About Thomas Nevin Jewelers

After thinking about a career as an illustrator, Dan Nevin said he found his true calling when he took a jewelry class in college.

Since then, for 33 years, Nevin has made jewelry his business. And for nearly 20 years he has been owner of Thomas Nevin Jewelers in downtown Mt. Clemens.

He started his career in Illinois before spending almost six years in Ohio and moving back to the metro Detroit area. Nevin who grew up in Mt. Clemens, lives with his wife Laurie in Harrison Township.

QUESTION: How did you get started?

ANSWER: After high school, I went to college and I tried to be an illustrator. I was going to be in commercial art. After I did that for a while, I decided it really wasn’t what I wanted to do. So I took a few more painting and drawing classes. One thing led to another when I took a jewelry class.

Finally, once I started with the jewelry class, I found that people were asking me to make a gift for so-and-so or to repair some jewelry. I also found some financial reward, so I decided “This is it; I found what to do.”

I went to a trade school in Illinois and when I got out of school I had my first job.

Q: What is the story behind the name of the store?
A: When I started this business, my partner’s name was Ruth Thomas. We took the two last names of each person and started the Thomas Nevin Jewelers.

Thomas Nevin is actually my father, and also my brother and my godson. At the time that we chose the name, I know it was going to look like my family’s business but she didn’t have a problem with that. Since then, her husband has passed away; my father is a dead. I’m not going to change the name to Daniel Nevin. I’m going to keep it Thomas Nevin Jewelers forever.

Q: What inspires you?
A: I like working with fancy-cut or unusual-cut colored stones. Right now, the gem cutters all over the world are coming up with some very exotic and different shapes and cuts, and it’s just a pleasure to work with something new and fresh. It really gets the creativeness moving, coming up with some very unusual designs, which is really my favorite thing to do.

Doing the commercial stuff and repairs keeps the bills paid and everything else. But the real outlet – and the joy of my profession – is making a one-of-a-kind piece.

Q: How do you cater to your customers?
A: First of all, in my profession, trust is number one. If they don’t trust you, you just don’t have them.

You have to instill trust that “I will take care of any item that you leave.” From very valuable to inexpensive, it’s all treated the same and handled with care.

Q: What do you like to do in your spare time?
A: Boating and playing golf. Bowling in the wintertime. My favorite sport in the winter time is snorkeling because it involves an airplane, palm tree and a beach.