By CYNTHIA VINARSKY

By CYNTHIA VINARSKY
VINDICATOR BUSINESS WRITER
BOARDMAN -- For weeks Jeres Achkar has been hard at work, creating fine jewelry pieces for the holidays with some of his regular customers in mind.
The funny part is, they don't know a thing about it.
It's a game the veteran Youngstown-area jeweler plays every Christmas season. He doesn't call his favorite customers, doesn't even mention the pieces when they come in to his store at 7313 South Ave.
After 37 years in business here, the owner of Achkar Jewelers & amp; Manufacturers knows his "regulars" will be in to shop for the holidays and he knows their tastes. He just leads them to the display case and waits for a reaction.
"Pretty soon we'll see the parade of people," he said, proudly holding a sampling of his most recent diamond, opal and emerald ring creations. "These will all be gone by Christmas."
Achkar said he makes about 75 percent of the jewelry he sells at his small shop, and business has been good, despite the Valley's sluggish overall economy.
He acknowledged that his hand-crafted jewelry is more expensive than the mass-produced variety. "It costs more because every piece is one-of-a-kind. People are willing to pay for that," he explained.
Protection
The store is careful to protect its customers' original designs. Last week, for example, Achkar was working on a pendant design for a rock band and was making the wax mold for a lion pendant a New York customer requested. He wouldn't allow either project to be photographed.
The jeweler said he has a strong local customer base, and many others who have moved out of the area still call him to place orders from California, Arizona, Florida, New York and elsewhere.
He's had many unusual requests over the years -- some of which he refused. He said yes to customers who ordered large, jeweled navel pieces, but he declined a request to implant diamond decorations in one customer's teeth.
Engagement and wedding rings make up a big part of his business, and Achkar said he especially enjoys designing dangle-style earrings encrusted with diamond and other jewels.
The store also has a complete service department offering watch and jewelry repair, and that brings traffic into the business.
"A great percentage of people who come in to have something repaired will end up buying something," he said, grinning.
Achkar's designs begin with an idea, either his or his customer's, and the first step is to put it on paper.
Some shoppers come in with their own sketches. Others describe the ring, bracelet, pendant, pin or earrings they envision.
"I listen, and it's almost like I can read their mind," Achkar said.
Once a sketch is complete, the jeweler hand-carves the design in wax. The wax mold is then set in plaster, the plaster is heated in a kiln at 1200 degrees for eight hours, then the hot wax is poured out and the mold is filled with molten gold, silver or platinum.
The plaster is designed to dissolve when submerged in water, Achkar said, leaving behind a rough metal version of the design. He continues the process by meticulously hand-finishing the piece and fitting it with jewels or gemstones.
The whole process takes one to three weeks, he said, from sketch to finished product. If the customer isn't happy, he can make minor changes and has sometimes even offered to start from scratch and do it again.
His background
A native of Cuba, Achkar said he still uses the same jewelry-making process he learned from his father, who ran a successful Cuban jewelry store before Fidel Castro set up a Communist government there in 1959.
From that point on, he said, the Communist government made life difficult for him and his family.
"In a Communist country, you are either for the government or against it," he said. "We were not militant, but we did not support the government and they knew it."
Cuban military police searched the family home and business several times, always unannounced and often in the middle of the night, hoping to find something incriminating to tie the Achkars to the opposition movement.
In 1962, the government took control of the family's jewelry store and froze its assets, along with most other small businesses in the country.
The Achkars knew they had family in the Youngstown area, and that helped them to obtain a special visa so they could come to the United States to start a new life.
They had nothing when they arrived in 1965, but they moved in with their relatives in Liberty Township, and Achkar began working, setting up shop on West Boardman Street in downtown Youngstown.
He started out by making jewelry for other jewelry stores and eventually, with the help of referrals from friends in jewelry sales, he was servicing 42 stores all over the country. Before long he established a local clientele as well.
The store stayed downtown for 23 years, moving to its Boardman location in 1988.
His favorite part
Achkar said he never tires of the creative process of jewelry making. "I work eight or nine hours a day, and sometimes I come in for a while on Sundays," he said. "The creative part is my weakness."
His wife, Ofelia, works with him in the store, but their son, Antonio, has taken another path -- he is a physician, specializing in internal medicine, and lives in Pittsburgh.
Achkar said he's trained at least eight employees in the jewelry trade, but they've all moved outside the area to establish their own businesses.
With no apparent successor to take over his store, Achkar says he's not worried. At 70, he has no plans to retire and no plans to follow family members who have relocated to Florida.
"I love this country. I love this city," Achkar said. "I will never leave. I want to die right here in Youngstown."
vinarsky@vindy.com