Jewelry: the invisible industry - The New Mexico Private 100

New Mexico Business Journal, Nov, 1991 by Jack Hartsfield

Some call it New Mexico's invisible industry, jewelry manufacturers and jewelry product and tool suppliers grossing tens of millions of dollars annually in the Land of Enchantment virtually without fanfare.

Insiders say they've intentionally avoided the publicity -- first, for security reasons, and secondly, because they're in an industry where integrity and performance count for far more than the glare of being in a public spotlight.

For several decades, they've quietly managed production at selected locations in New Mexico without asking for or needing special considerations.

In all, some 25 major jewelry manufacturing companies are quietly at work throughout New Mexico where executives discovered an unusually high percentage of skilled artisans and technicians.

All of them make it clear they're in no way competing with the long-standing fame of Indian jewelry or Indian jewelers in New Mexico, but in specialty Southwestern Style jewelry now being marketed worldwide.

New Mexico, incidentally, now ranks fourth in the nation in the jewelry manufacturing industry with Rhode Island, New York and California leading.

Albuquerque alone has at least eight firms deeply involved in the jewelry manufacturing industry, including Rio Grande Albuquerque Inc., Kabana Inc., Academy Corporation, Enchantment Jewelry Corp., Shube's Manufacturing Inc., and Waldeck Jewelers, to name a few.

Enchantment Jewelry Corp., with Mike Jones as president, is a multi-million-dollar corporation employing more than 55 workers selling jewelry throughout the United States and 15 foreign countries.

Henry Silverman Jewelry, which manufactures contemporary jewelry such as engagement and wedding sets at its El Paso plant, operates in Albuquerque and markets nationwide.

"Nobody was out recruiting to bring the industry here," says Hugh S. Bell, president of Rio Grande Albuquerque Inc., a jewelry tools and products leader in New Mexico. "The industry is a homegrown type thing. . ."

Rio Grande Albuquerque Inc., employs 222 workers, has roughly 17,000 specific items to market, turned $34 million in '90 and expects that to reach more than $36 million this year.

Rio Grande Albuquerque, among this year's Private 100 companies, does business throughout the U.S. and 32 countries. The company began operating in Albuquerque in 1944.

Rio Grande Albuquerque Inc., is also half owner of Academy Corporation in Albuquerque, a precious metals refiner and broker with 28 employees grossing between $10-15 million a year.

Academy Corporation, a high-tech recycler and refiner for gold and silver ranked among the top 20 in the nation, is listed among this year's Private 100. Keith Philippi is Academy's president.

Rio Grande Albuquerque and Academy Corporation have a close working relationship with Kabana Inc., an Albuquerque jewelry manufacturer employing about 250 and grossing between $15-20 million a year, which is also among the Private 100.

Stavros Eleftheriou, born in Cairo, Egypt, and reared in Athens, Greece, is president of Kabana, which manufactures and wholesales jewelry and has a commercial outlet, called Mati, at Coronado Center in Albuquerque, another in Boulder, Colo.

Eleftheriou came to Albuquerque in 1972 from Europe with $60 in his pocket and never lost sight of his vision.

"Some have suggested now I start up a manufacturing plant in Asia," says Eleftheriou, "but I say no, I stay in Albuquerque. Albuquerque is my hometown.

"I have one foot in Greece (he owns a home on the island of Mykonos) and one foot in Albuquerque," says Eleftheriou. "If I pick up either foot, I fall in the ocean. I stay here."