It’s a family affair at Julianne’s Jewelry and has been for three generations.

“My grandfather, Ed Stevens, who we called ‘Papa Ed,’ started the business in the 1970s,” said Alli Babb, co-owner of the jewelry store. “It was ‘Steven’s Jewelry’ then, and he ran it out of his home garage. People would drive up and come in through his back door.”

Alli’s mom, Julianne Babb, joined her father-in-law in the business in 1992 as an apprentice learning the jewelry trade.

“He paid her $40 a day,” said Alli. “She gave $20 to the babysitter and kept the other $20.”

By 1994, Papa Ed was ready to retire and Julianne assumed the mantle, moving the business to her home garage and changing its name to Julianne’s Jewelry.

Alli points out a lot of businesses started in garages — Apple, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Harley-Davidson — though she laughs admitting Julianne’s isn’t a mega-enterprise; but, it is successful.

Alli’s brother and business partner, Bryan Babb, started learning the jewelry trade from his mom when he was 19. He also went on to be a sushi chef and at one point considered a career in firefighting. Ultimately, however, Bryan returned to the family trade and business after earning a jewelry arts diploma from the American Jewelers Institute in Portland.

Alli earned a gemologist degree from the Gemological Institute of America in San Diego and launched her career in San Francisco working for a diamond wholesaler. Then, in 2018, when the siblings’ father became ill and their mom needed to care for him, Alli and Bryan bought Julianne’s Jewelry and moved the business to its current location in the “hustle and bustle” of Meriam Park.

“It was a hard decision to make. I was actually crying the day I left San Francisco, “ said Alli. “But it feels really good to be back home. I loved Papa Ed and being my mom’s daughter; I wanted to keep the business alive and continue providing service to the people of Chico. We feel successful here and that feels really great.”

Perfect partners

Julianne’s provides a comfortable and welcoming atmosphere with its vaulted ceilings, skylights, a couple of comfy chairs and sparkling rings, necklaces, pendants and bracelets — many of which are Alli’s designs that Bryan fabricates.

Alli or store manager and gemologist Shelby Hewitt greets customers with a bright smile, and Alli’s two dogs — Joey and Wren — offer gentle nose-nudge hellos of their own. Alli’s youngest daughter, 10-month old Luisa, often accompanies mom to work; her older, far more mobile sister, 2-year-old Argentina, spends her days elsewhere, sometimes with grandma.

A focused man of few words, Bryan is most comfortably at home in the store’s shop. There, visible through a large window, the jeweler can be seen creating new pieces of custom bijouterie and repairing customer’s pieces.

Bryan said he enjoys most aspects of his work but really likes setting stones — and the unusual requests they get from customers.

“Like when they bring in grandpa’s old teeth and ask us to remove the gold from them. That’s always fun,” he said.

Alli admits she’s the “chatty one” saying, “I love meeting new people and learning the history of the pieces they bring in. All jewelry has a story, and it’s always fascinating. Bryan is the quiet one. He likes to fix stuff, tinker and work with his hands. It’s really the perfect partnership.”

Hewitt said she loves working with Alli and Bryan because their “brother-sister dynamic is classic siblings.”

Store services

Alli enjoys the customers and designing new jewelry or creating designs that repurpose a customer’s heirloom piece into a new wearable item. Typically, it’s the stones — precious and semiprecious — that are reused; but the metal — yellow, white or rose gold, sterling silver or platinum — is usually replaced with new “clean” metal, though the Babbs can also recycle the metal if the customer prefers.

“Taking those pieces that someone brings in, designing something new from it and giving them back something wearable, and they love it, is great,” said Alli. “It’s the best.”

To help customers visualize the designs they describe to her, Alli creates CAD drawings, which are then made into 3D wax molds. The gems may be placed in the mold so a customer can try the piece on and really get a feel for how the final product will look.

“People have a hard time putting into words what they are visualizing in their heads,” said Alli. “It really helps for them to see the design first on the computer after I’ve drawn it CAD and then the wax mold. It’s just a nice process because they know what to expect with the final piece.”

Julianne’s carries loose diamonds so people can choose their own stones and then work with Alli to create a custom design, most often for engagement and wedding rings. About 80% of the diamonds Julianne’s sells these days are lab grown diamonds which have exceeded natural diamonds in popularity.

Because the store has a fully equipped shop equipped no customer jewelry is sent out for any type of work. Bryan does it all and that, said Alli, makes all the difference in their service.

“People are often intimidated walking into a jewelry store. They’re super nervous about leaving something so precious to them for repair or to worked on. It makes them feel more comfortable to know we keep everything here,” said Alli. “People trust us. And that means everything to us. We are honest and open and work hard to do our very best for all of our customers.”

Visit juliannesjewelry.com for more information about Julianne’s Jewelry.

Reach Kyra Gottesman at kgottesman@chicoer.com