David Craig
by Bob Waite
David Craig Rotenberg opened his David Craig Jeweler’s in Newtown about 37 years ago with the idea of bringing “a high end nice jewelry operation right here in Bucks County.” He said, “This kind of store didn’t exist in Philadelphia, so if you wanted something like it, you would have to go to New York. So, I brought New York to Bucks County. I live about five minutes from the store, so I am brought it into my own community.”
David is an expert gemologist and jewelry designer. He is a gemologist appraiser who is certified by the International Society of Appraisers. His CAPP (Certified Appraiser of Personal Property) is in gemstones, contemporary jewelry and antique and period jewelry, making him one of the only jewelers in the country to earn the triple CAPP certification. He is a member of American Gem Society. He also has been a board member and president of the American Gem Society’s Jeweler’s Education Foundation.
Yet David did not start out wanting to be a prominent gemologist and designer. As a young man he had gotten himself a job for a retail jewelry chain store. He says, “It was just a job. I had no career aspirations whatsoever.” Almost as soon as David got the job he became interested and took some courses about gems. “I kind of stayed with it,” he said. That first job led to more education, a move to a jeweler on Sampson Street and eventually a partnership that lasted ten years. Then 37 years ago he decided he wanted to do something on his own, and he opened shop in Newtown. Today he can say that he loves this vocation that began as just a job.
David Craig Jeweler’s is embedded into the social fabric of Bucks County. Besides offering a level of jewelry appraisal and design seen only in large cities, David uses his skills to give back to the community. In the early 80s David Craig Jeweler’s was invited to partner with St. Mary Medical Center and has been involved with them ever since. David not only has attended their charity balls but has chaired a couple of them also. But his biggest contribution to the hospital is his expertise as a jeweler.
“I am also called on a more than infrequent basis to the emergency room, for something as simple as a person getting a ring jammed on their finger or their hand swells up and they can’t remove it. Sometimes I deal with unusual problems. I remember a young man brought into the hospital by the rescue squad. He had forced a ball bearing onto his finger. They were talking about the possibility of removing the man’s finger. Thankfully the doctor had his wits about him and he called me. I got over there and it took me about an hour. I have specialized tools I can use.”
Besides being a jeweler, David trains dogs. “I offered St. Mary Medical Center to train a dog and use it as a service dog in the hospital. At first they wanted me to come in one day a week and then two and then three, but they wanted to use me and no one else. Finally they let me use other people. And now we have a whole team of people doing service work in the hospital.”
David is also very interested in ethics and has taught classes on gemology that also concentrated on the ethics of running a business. In fact the reason for his activity on behalf of the AGS Jeweler’s Education Foundation had to do with the fact that it was an organization formed to “not only to teach jewelers what they need to know to be good jewelers, but also some ethics and principles about how to run a business.”
Ethics and high quality are also found in the gems that David uses as a jewelry designer. This is particularly true about Forevermark Diamond, which David buys. “Forevermark is the most ethical diamond source in the world. They only come from specific mines that are not related in any way to contract mining. They hire local people and the mines rebuild the areas they mine from and they do not leave pits. Their quality is outstanding. Out of all the diamonds submitted to them, only two percent pass their rigorous standards and are marked and inscribed.”
David Craig is there, always, and his staff are all professional jewelers. Unlike the staff at jewelry chain store, everyone who works for David is a professional jeweler. “I interact personally with everyone who walks through the door. My business card has my personal cellphone number. If you ever have a problem with something that happened in this store, I want to know about it. I like to hear the accolades too.”
David sells heirlooms at David Craig Jewelers and most are designed by him in conjunction with his customers. He is an expert appraiser and knows how to make custom jewelry that will be passed from generation to generation. When consulting with a buyer who has budgeted a certain amount of money for an engagement or wedding ring, he emphasizes that the gem ought to have the priority. “Typically, I recommend a gemstone is where you put your money. Some people have other ideas. The setting is something that is replaceable. The setting is something that runs out of vogue in five or ten years. So you may want to reset it with the original gemstone. We recommend that they focus most of their budget into the gem and then we can build the setting with what we have left. We are always able to put together what they want. Typically when people are coming here they are looking for something with longevity; it’s going to last a long time.”
Buying from David Craig Jewelry supports people who work and live in Bucks County. It adds to the enhancement of life in the community and it involves an actual encounter with a personality who not only is respected in the community for his skills as a jewelry designer and gemologist, but is also an expert on a national and even international level. He has appraisal done work for the United States Treasury Department and their branches—the Secret Service, the IRS and U.S. Customs. He has done work for international organizations offshore and has been on many television talk and news shows as an expert in matters of gems and jewelry. And he lives and works in Newtown, bringing New York to Bucks County.
David Craig Jewelers is located at the Summit Square Shopping Center, 10 Summit Square Shopping Center, Langhorne, PA 19047. You can call David Craig Jewelers at 215-968-8900 or visit at www.davidcraigjewelers.com.
Bob Waite is the editor of Bucks County Magazine and MONTCO Homes, Gardens & Lifestyle magazine.