A Decade of Dominance: Why Van Adams Jewelers Just Won’t Stop Winning

As the owner of Southern Jewelry News and the head of Jewelry Store Marketers, I’ve spent 15 years looking under the hood of jewelry businesses across the country. I’ve seen the good, the bad, and the “how-are-you-still-in-business?” But then there’s Van Adams Jewelers in Snellville.They just secured their 10th consecutive year as the “Best Jeweler in Gwinnett County.” As Van’s marketing guy, you might think I’m going to tell you it’s because of some top-secret digital wizardry I’ve cooked up. Honestly? It’s much simpler—and much harder to replicate. It’s Van himself.

From High School Hustle to High-End Mastery

Van didn’t just wake up one day and decide to sell diamonds. He’s a second-generation jeweler who practically grew up in the aisles of his mother’s store, Ann’s Jewelry, which started back in 1985.

The “hustle” started early. While most 16-year-olds at Brookwood High were worried about gas money, Van was carrying a suitcase full of gold herringbone necklaces and chains to school. He was selling jewelry to his classmates, learning early on that this business isn’t about carats—it’s about trust.

“My friends trusted me… I did make a lot of sales and a lot of friends,” Van told me recently. Some of those high school “clients” are still buying from him today.

The Air Force Precision Meets Artist Passion

After a four-year stint in the United States Air Force servicing airplanes, Van traded the heat and rain of the flight line for the precision of the jeweler’s bench. He took over the family business at 24, bringing a mechanical inclination that serves him to this day.

Van doesn’t just sell jewelry; he dreams it. He told me he often wakes up in the middle of the night with a vision, sketching it out so he can turn it into a CAD design the next morning. From hand-picking every gemstone to casting the gold thicker so it lasts a lifetime, his Van Adams Signature Collection is crafted on-site with an obsession for quality. He even travels to Vietnam and Thailand to personally source the rarest stones available.

The “After-Hours” Rolex Story

Van Adams holding his 10th straight Best of Gwinnett award.

When I asked Van about his most memorable customer experience, he told me a story that perfectly captures his “whatever it takes” attitude. A customer called him up, desperate because his work hours made it impossible to get to the store before closing.

In the jewelry world, meeting a stranger after hours is a massive security “no-no”. But Van had built such a strong rapport with this man that he followed his gut and opened the doors anyway. They spent the evening talking, and that “after-hours” session resulted in the purchase of two Rolexes and several pieces of fine jewelry for the man’s family. More importantly, it turned a customer into a lifelong friend.

The 10-Year Streak

Van jokes that he’s a “pain in the ass” to the big box chain stores. He’s right. While they focus on corporate quotas, Van is focusing on the relationship. When a guy walks in for an engagement ring, Van doesn’t lead with the “Four Cs.” He asks, “What’s her name?” and “How did you meet?”

He’s been doing this for 35 years, and he says he’ll keep doing it as long as he can “talk, breathe, or crawl.”  That’s why he wins. You can’t out-market a man who treats every customer like they’re being invited into his own home.

“When you love what you do, it’s not work. And when it doesn’t feel like work, you get motivated, you get up, and you do what you need to do.”  Van Adams

Congratulations, Van, on 10 years of being the best. Here’s to the next decade of making Gwinnett County a whole lot shinier.

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