New jeweler brings 25 years experience to town

After coming to the area for several years to visit friends, Michael Alvarado fell in love with Pahrump and decided to move himself and his love for jewelry to town.

Jewelry By Michael, located on 311 Frontage Road, opened up just under a month ago, with help from those very friends that drew Alvarado to the area. Despite the shop being new to town, Alvarado brings a quarter-century of jewelry knowledge with him.

“My background in jewelry is about 25 years of experience throughout the whole thing from watches, to jewelry, to silverware, to grading stones, the whole atmosphere,” Alvarado said. “We shop all around the world.”

Alvarado’s over two decades-long background includes working for a handful of jewelry stores in Fresno, California, and owning his own shop in Ridgecrest, California.

His love of jewelry is a family affair, as Alvarado’s father is also in the jewelry business and the two have learned new skills together along the way.

“He got his wife a gold cross and when they went to church everybody loved it so much that he went ahead and got a couple more gold crosses and he sold ‘em,” Alvarado said. “So that’s how it started.”

With the Pahrump Valley not being over-saturated with jewelry stores, Alvarado saw an opportunity to carve out his own niche by doing things his way.

“There’s only two stores here in town that I consider jewelry stores so I thought the town could take another jewelry store,” Alvarado said. “Because I am a jeweler, I can fix things and size things, so I thought that that would be OK.”

That ability to perform a variety of services, which include sizing, cleaning, grading and engraving, is something that Alvarado thinks sets him apart from the other jewelers in the area.

Being courteous to the community is something that Alvarado thinks is important and he explained he will offer some services that others usually charge for, for nothing at all.

“We’re just a genuine, friendly store,” he said. “We don’t charge for everything that we do. If a lady came in here with a wedding ring with a bent prong, we’ll fix it and clean it up, with no charge.”

Priding himself in community involvement, Alvarado is a member of the Pahrump Valley Chamber of Commerce and is looking forward to helping out with various fundraisers and events in the community.

“A young lady came in… and asked me to hang this [flyer] up for the high school because they’re a little low on money for music instruments, and I am cool with that because I like to be involved with the town,” Alvarado said.

The jewelry business is a labor of love for Alvarado and he is grateful for where he is today because of it.

“When you enjoy doing something you have fun doing it,” Alvarado said.

Jewelry By Michael is open Monday-Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and can be reached at 775-727-7450.