Philip Monroe Jeweler Inc, heir to a jewelry design and retail firm founded in 1923, enters its third generation of proprietorship with its recent purchase by Kevin Crane. The Seattle firm will continue operation as Monroe and Crane Jewelers, at 519 Pine St.
The company originated as Gunderson's in Tacoma but soon opened a second small boutique in downtown Seattle. In 1954 the late Arthur Gunderson moved the Seattle store from Fifth Avenue to Sixth and Pine, near its current location across from Nordstrom. His protégé, gemologist and longtime Magnolia resident Philip Monroe, assumed ownership in 1977 and soon expanded the store's selection to include antiques, custom jewelry design and unique art objects. Over time the store developed a reputation for its Asian and pre-Columbian antiquities.
"We saw a lot of changes on Pine Street," Monroe recently reminisced. "We miss Frederick & Nelson's and I Magnin; they were the most elegant stores in Seattle. Still, we are grateful for having the best of the best for our customers. When it had to be special, they came to us." About the change in ownership, he said, "The time has come to pass the torch to Kevin Crane. Kevin is a gifted jewelry designer."
After nearly 35 years Monroe is still enthusiastic about jewelry design, though his interests now extend beyond jewelry into architecture, landscape design and sculpture. He and wife Lee are planning to relocate to Minnesota to be near their daughter and grandchildren.
Queen Anne resident Kevin Crane, the firm's new owner, is a 12-year associate of Monroe. His 25 years of experience designing jewelry and art objects includes exhibits in Europe, North America and Japan, with regular shows in New York, Chicago and elsewhere in the United States.
"I have always had a passion for antiquities," he said recently. "But the heart of our business is jewelry design; it is what we do best.
"Mr. Gunderson knew many of the Northwest School artists - Mark Tobey, Morris Graves," he continued, "and he pioneered the much-copied Northwest Style in jewelry.... Phil Monroe maintained the tradition of quality Mr. Gunderson started in 1923, and we intend to carry it on into the future."
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