Generations of family tied together in gems

Marlton jeweler Angelo Breaux got his first taste of the business half a century ago in South Philly.

His grandfather Angelo Calapristi, who owned a jewelry store at 22d and Snyder, would bring Breaux along while collecting payments on credit accounts in the neighborhood.

"We went door-to-door, and when people didn't have the $10 or whatever it was, they'd pinch my cheeks and feed me," Breaux, 57, recalls. "They'd give me pizzelles and biscotti, and candy."

Now a grandfather himself, Breaux is the patriarch of Family & Co. Jewelers on Route 70, where his son and two daughters work side-by-side with him in the business they all were born into.

Even his 9-year-old granddaughter, Skylar, once "sold a couple of Pandora beads" to a customer who was searching for them, Breaux notes proudly. "She's the fifth generation in the business."

A tall, affable Medford resident who's a prominent fund-raiser on behalf of cancer patients and active-duty military personnel, Breaux "let us see the business without putting pressure on us," says his oldest daughter, Crystal Barket, 34, of Tabernacle.

She worked as a hairstylist in Virginia before returning home to join the family enterprise a dozen years ago; her husband, Mathew, 42, is a jeweler's apprentice at the store.

"I started with gift wrapping and stuff like that," says Crystal's sister (and Skylar's mother) Jessica Breaux, 32, of Marlton.

"When I started engraving, I used a machine my dad used when he started," adds Angelo Jr., 29, who also lives in Marlton.

Family members and other employees wear multiple hats; Angelo Jr. is primarily a designer.

He uses computers and 3-D printers to create and fabricate original pieces, such as this year's surprise Father's Day gift.

About which, more in a moment.

"There are so many parts to [the work], you can always learn more," Angelo Jr. says. "There's always something new."

Technologies of all sorts have revolutionized the jewelry business in the decades since the Snyder Avenue store opened in 1937 and its successor, Family & Co., opened on Route 70 in 1971.

Back then, the notion of buying jewelry while watching TV, or by clicking a mouse (a what?), would have seemed like science fiction.

But not everything has changed.

"Gary still does things the old-school way, on pencil and paper," Breaux says. He's referring to master jeweler/designer/store manager Gary Spivak, 52, one half of the other father-son team at Family & Co.

After the elder Spivak lost his lease on a Cherry Hill jewelry store 25 years ago, Breaux hired him as a designer. "It soon turned out he had other skills," says Breaux, who says the two families "absolutely" blend harmoniously within the store.

"My dad taught me everything about the business," says certified gemologist Josh Spivak, 24, who designed and fabricated a Father's Day gift - a belt decorated with sterling silver and rose gold elements, including several Gary can engrave himself.

"That way," Josh says, "it's kind of a joint project."

Angelo Jr. worked for about a month to create his gift for Father's Day.

Needless to say, the story behind the piece - a lovingly detailed pendant of yellow and white gold - is about family, and heritage.

Breaux's father, Edwin, served for 26 years in the Marine Corps. He died, at 85, in 2011, and a commemorative USMC sword engraved with his name is on display in an office at the store.

Angelo Jr. adapted decorative elements of the sword into the design of the face of the pendant.

"It took my breath away," says Breaux, who opened the gift box Friday, took his tie off, and put the pendant on.

"I'm extremely proud of what my father did for our country," he says.

And the fact that his son - who, like his sisters, now owns a share of the Family & Co. - has learned how to craft such a work of art "means a lot to me," adds Breaux.