Jeweler and goldsmith Scott Puffe sold his first diamonds 49 years ago, when he was still in high school. (Photo/Nancy Hanson)
Nancy Edmonds Hanson
“There’s not a single thing here that you need,” jeweler Scott Puffe declares, surveying the spot in the Center Mall he’s occupied for 34 years. “No food, no clothing, no shelter.
“It’s all about love – love and romance. Fashion changes, but this is all about the heart.”
Diamonds may be forever, Scott observes, but the same isn’t true for the business. With Valentine’s Day approaching, Puffe’s Fine Jewelry is busy helping customers find that special token of affection for their special someone. Chances are good that it will involve diamonds, which make up more than three-quarters of his business. Beyond that essential, the changes keep on coming.
Pulling a glittering sample out of one of the display cases, he says, “This is the hottest fashion in jewelry right now.” It’s a 14-carat gold chain, each link fashioned in the style of a paper clip, its centerpiece a similar-shaped link sparkling with the tiniest diamond. “Young women love it. It combines recognizable value with a style you can make your own, wearing it as a necklace or a bracelet with multiple ways to position the clasp.”
Diamonds remain a constant on his shop’s hit parade, but they too vary. The classic styles of cuts from years gone by have been broadened beyond the always-popular rounds: rectangular emerald shapes, square princess, cushions with rounded corners, the long, pointed ovals termed “marquise” and pears. Some are set amidst a halo of smaller gems to ramp up their sparkle and visual pop.
But not all that glitters is nature’s own handiwork. While diamonds are still the gift of love, lab-created stones have come on strong, challenging the mined variety with equal brilliance at a better price. “A human cannot tell a lab-created stone from one that was mined,” he explains. In fact, the only way to tell the two apart is with a high-tech device that compares their infrared signature.
Originally, he says, there was little demand for man-made jewels; due to the complexity of the process, they rivaled natural stones in price. Technological advances, though, have brought their price down. Now comparable stones may be one-third to one-half less. He points to a display of sparkling diamond ear studs. “A customer just told me, ‘My wife can lose three of these for every one of those others.’” earrings.’”
Puffe’s Jewelry got its start in 1975, when Scott’s father Harry purchased a store in the old Holiday Mall from Ray Brooks, who had retired. Harry, who had worked for Crescent Jewelers in Fargo for 20 years, took over the shop with the help of his wife Helen and Scott, the oldest of his three children. The elder Puffe, now 95, still comes in to work several days a week.
Scott was already experienced in the business when the teen-ager joined his parents. He’d been working part-time at Keepsake Jewelers in West Acres since his junior year at Oak Grove High School. “I sold my first diamond there in 1973,” he remembers. After graduating, he briefly attended Valparaiso University with a vague notion of becoming an accountant. “But that wasn’t for me,” he laughs. He couldn’t get past those diamonds.
Like his father, Scott is largely self-educated in his field, along with studies at the Gemological Institute of America. “What I know comes from on-the-job training,” he concedes. “There’s always something new to learn in this industry.”
The jewelry business has continued to change over the years. When the Puffes moved from the fading Holiday Mall to the Center Mall in 1988, theirs was one of three jewelry dealers. Now Neubarth’s and Gould Jewelers have faded into history, and Puffe’s holds the record as Moorhead’s oldest jewelry store.
While the Center Mall has long diminished from its peak as a retail destination, the jeweler says business is good – very good – and for a perhaps surprising reason: “It sounds bad to say it, but Covid has been good for us. Very good,” he admits. “This is a luxury business. Our main competition is travel and leisure. People have stayed home, not spending that part of the budget on other leisure items, and perhaps Covid relief has put a few extra dollars in their pockets. Here’s a way to enjoy it, to make someone you love happy, and maybe help out a local business by upgrading their diamonds.”
The pandemic mood, too, has prompted some of his longtime customers to express appreciation for local commerce. “Over the last 18 months, I’ve heard people say ‘thank you for being here. Thanks for weathering the storm. We’ve never heard that said out loud before. It’s nice to feel appreciated.”
Many of their customers have patronized the Puffe family business for decades, even scores of years. Once in the market for engagement rings, those Baby Boomers may now be looking for gems to commemorate their 40th or 50th anniversaries.
Scott has observed another emerging motive as well. “Lately I’m hearing a lot more talk about heirlooms,” he reports. “They are thinking about something they can give their daughters or granddaughters to remember them by.
“After all, if they leave them money, it’ll get spent and that’s it – it’s gone. Diamonds are forever.”
