Who doesn't love a great love story, especially in the realm of the jewelry world?!
Well, we sure do!
If you want to hear a good one (ok we may be a little bias)... here ya go!
Greg Chatham, US Army Green Beret, aka special ops bad@ss... was on his first deployment in Afghanistan when his mother asked him to look for a stone called lapis. The finest quality lapis comes from that area, so Greg started doing his research. Upon doing so, he found himself enthralled with the world of gemstones. While his teammates were playing video games while off mission, he was ordering testing equipment, studying online, and learning all he could. One of his military buddies had worked in a jewelry store, and noticed Greg's interest. He encouraged him to attend the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) upon his return to the states. Greg immediately enrolled, but missions and trainings greatly delayed his start date at the GIA.
It's good thing he was delayed, because...
Meanwhile, in Atascadero, California, Lindsay Jane was an employee at K.Jons Jewelers. She had decided to turn her "job" into a career, and applied for a scholarship to attend the GIA. She received a full-ride to attend on-campus, and in January 2015, Lindsay began her classes.
Greg had begun his classes in the Fall of 2016, so their time on-campus together only overlapped by a few months.
"I remember seeing this guy.. he was all the way across the main lobby. I was taken aback and thought wow he's really cute. I had recently gotten out of a relationship, and was completely intent on focusing on my professional career. But you know how that goes... when you're not looking for love, that's when it knocks you up side the head, laugh out loud! We immediately fell for each other, and the rest is history."
Subsequent to their graduations, they traveled to the east coast for some military trainings. Shortly thereafter, Greg was deployed again for almost a year.
Upon returning home, Greg and Lindsay tied the knot and started their family. They moved to Camarillo, where Greg was doing some military work with the Sheriff's department. It was a couple years after moving away that they heard of Stan and Mary's retirement, and again, the rest is history!
