By Joyce Moed

On Aug. 15, the city of Wellington was able to welcome another business into its growing community. The family owned business J. Douglas Jewelers opened its second location. Its first location is in Fort Lauderdale, and has been there since 1981.

"This is a great area," Curt Schick, who owns the business with his brother, Gary, said about Wellington.

The Wellington location is very different than the location in Fort Lauderdale, Curt said. "The one in Fort Lauderdale is in an exchange," he said. "This one is a freestanding store." The Wellington location also provides more opportunities to offer original-designed jewelry, which is Gary's specialty. "Gary is an award-winning designer," Curt said. "I design everything from classical to contemporary," Gary said.

Other services offered by J. Douglas Jewelers are in-house appraisals, and repairs. "We also specialize in diamonds of all shapes, colors and sizes," Curt said.

But still, what J. Douglas Jewelers is most known for is its custom design and uniqueness, Gary said. "Customers can bring in stones, and we can design whatever they want," Gary said. "We also carry diamonds, rubies and amethysts. Gary can create a design around any stone," Curt said. "Most of our business is custom design."

A unique feature for the Wellington location of J. Douglas Jewelers is that each jewelry piece can be initially designed on the computer right in front of the customer's eyes. "We can show them many different types," Gary said. "Then depending on the item, it usually takes between three and six weeks." A rolling slide show is also shown on a screen in back of the jewelry cases. It shows an array of pictures of pieces created by Gary for customers to view while shopping.

Both J. Douglas Jewelers locations carry all types of jewelry styles.

"We have a full line of jewelry including bracelets, rings, earrings and loose stones," Curt said. "We also carry an array of watch brands, including Movado and Concord. We can get any type of watch that anyone wants. They can be specially ordered."

"We are also offering Rolex overhauls for $149.99," Curt said. The overhaul includes cleaning the watch, and checking everything to make sure it is working properly, Curt said.

Store hours are from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday. While the store has been open for more than two weeks, the Schick brothers are planning a grand opening event for sometime in October, after they are more settled into the location. The store is located at 10660 Forest Hills Blvd. in Wellington Green Square. For more information, call 561-333-5353.