The start of a legacy.

    A third-generation jeweler, Jeff Kellmer was born into a family enterprise with an incredibly rich story. It is one of innovation, grit, and refinement. This eclectic mix of attributes existed in his grandfather, Jack Kellmer, when he began the Jack Kellmer Company in 1936. Known today as Kellmer Jewelers, Jack set the standard and expectation for Greater Philadelphia’s discerning clientele. With trips to Antwerp, Belgium and Idar-Oberstein, Germany he set out to procure the finest diamonds and most precious gemstones on the planet.

The family business.

When a customer entered a Jack Kellmer Company store, awash in travertine marble and adorned with lavish brass chandeliers suspended from 50-foot ceilings, they knew they entered someplace special.

The well-heeled were greeted by hundreds of linear feet of jewelry showcases brimming with the world’s most intricately crafted pieces. Everyone was treated with impeccably personalized service. The type of service where employees knew their clients by name, anticipated every need, and went to lengths unheard of to create an unforgettable experience.

By the time Jack’s twins Jim and Jane Kellmer, and eldest daughter Diane Kellmer Young, took over in the mid-1980s, the Jack Kellmer Company boasted three locations – one in Cherry Hill, NJ, and another on the Main Line. The flagship location was housed in the lavish Union Trust Bank building. Designed by one of the great American architects, Paul Phillip Cret, the Union Trust building remains a place of great renown among Philadelphia’s historic landscape. With a change in strategy, this store was relocated to one of the most elegant addresses on Walnut Street, flanked by five-star neighbors Tiffany &Co. and Le Bec Fin.

In 2009, Jim and his sister decided to sell the real estate and retire. By then, Jim’s son Jeff had become a graduate gemologist in his own right and served as the company’s Vice President for ten years. Proud of his heritage, Jeff decided to continue running the family business. In doing so, he has ensured the Kellmer name will live on in the highest regard for jewelry of distinction.