New jewelry store is a gem
By Shari Kaplan
Perhaps it was the fabled luck of the Irish that led Mahesh and Kamal Nihalani to be in the right place at the right time, that in turn led them to run MacGeraghty's European and Estate Jewelry, the newest jewelry store to hit downtown Los Gatos.
Former residents of the island of St. Thomas--by way of Bombay, India--the Nihalanis were working in the U.S. Virgin Islands' jewelry industry when one day, several years ago, they met a blue-eyed, white-haired Irishwoman vacationing there. Her name was Edna MacGeraghty, owner of several MacGeraghty's in Northern California and a lover of gems since her childhood in Ireland, where she would look in jewelry store windows the way some children stare into candy shops.
The Nihalanis struck up a friendship with MacGeraghty based on their common interests in jewelry and gemstones. They renewed that friendship last year, when they were scouting out places to live in the Bay Area to give their sons a better education. They visited MacGeraghty at her Burlingame store and, when they spoke of perhaps relocating, MacGeraghty revealed she was thinking of opening a Los Gatos store and wondered if the couple would like to run it.
Their answer, of course, was yes. And as luck would also have it, store space in a very visible corner unit on S. Santa Cruz Avenue became available sooner than they expected. About a month ago, the Bay Area's latest MacGeraghty's opened for business.
The emphasis is on the antique jewelry MacGeraghty has collected over the years from estate sales, antique auctions, gem shows and even royalty. Other pieces come from the hand of her daughter Erin, who takes old gems and crafts creative new settings in which they shine.
Diamonds, emeralds, sapphires, rubies, jade, amber, freshwater and South Sea pearls--they're all here, and in many forms, such as earrings, necklaces, pins, pendants, bracelets and rings. A less common but no less beautiful gem is tanzanite, a rare blue-violet stone mined in Tanzania in eastern Africa. Mahesh Nihalani calls it "the gem of the century," as both its discovery and its supply are most likely limited to this century. So far it has only been found in a small area in Tanzania, about 200 feet below the surface.
Complementing all this shiny finery is merchandise one might not expect to see in a jewelry store: fine art paintings. MacGeraghty has been an art collector and aficionado for 30 to 35 years, Nihalani says, and decided to bring art into her stores, as well. Most of the framed paintings are by Northern and Southern California artists, and many are impressionistic in style.
MacGeraghty's European and Estate Jewelry, 22 S. Santa Cruz Ave. Open Tuesday through Saturday, 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and by appointment. 408.399.6990.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
