“Jewelry is not just a shiny item. It's a marker of time,” says Salem Emamalie, the owner of Brentwood Jewelry & Gifts. One could also say that his family business is also a marker of time.
As a young boy living in Trinidad, he started working for his brother-in-law at age 11. “I watched him make handmade jewelry. We didn't have the machinery, so everything was done by hand, and I helped him. We were creators, and that's what inspired my love for making art and making jewelry.”
Many years later, when Salem returned from Vietnam in 1968 (he served with the Army Special Forces), he began working for several mom-and-pop jewelry stores near his military base at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. “They were very small, and because of my ability, they could not keep me busy enough.”
In 1970, he arrived in Nashville and started working for Morris Jewelers. “At that time, they were the largest jewelry store besides Nashville Gold and Silver in Nashville,” says Salem.
He eventually opened his own jewelry shop, E&K Manufacturers. (The E stood for Emamalie and the K stood for King, which was the last name of his partner back then.)
They did a lot of work for what was then Brentwood Jewelry, and Salem told the owner that if he ever wanted to sell, Salem wanted to buy it. “I was working one day, and he put a piece of paper in front of me to buy it, and that's how we acquired the name,” he says. “I still have E&K Manufacturers on the door because that's how we started.”
His wife, Debbie, worked with him in the store, and when their first son, Brandon, was born, they brought him to work with them. “We raised Brandon in the store,” says Salem. “We had a playpen, and later he would just run around the store.”
As Brandon grew, customers would often come in to visit him. “They didn't come to see the jewelry. They came to play with him.”
Brandon stayed on the premises until age 5, when he went to kindergarten. “He eventually went to college and has a degree in commercial design and landscaping, but he decided to come work with me full-time,” says Salem. That was 13 years ago, and today, Brandon designs jewelry and helps run the store alongside his father.
Salem’s youngest son, Blake, is a fireman and an EMT in Nashville, but he also helps out in the store. “He comes here on his days off. Blake is a wizard with watches and can tell you anything about a watch.”
Salem’s two brothers also work for him. “Frank is one of our artists, and Errol is a gemologist,” he says.
His grandson, 26-year-old Brandon Jr., also joined the business a few years ago. “He is Brandon’s boy, and so now we’re on the third generation.”
Over the years, Salem’s daughter, nieces, nephews and cousins have also been part of the family business at one time or another, and he considers his employees family too. “Many of them have been with me 40 to 45 years, and some since the beginning,” he says.
When people mention the legacy he has built over the last 50-plus years, he doesn’t like to take the credit. “I may be the person who started it, but it takes everybody to make it work,” says Salem. “I could not do this by myself.”
When customers ask for the owner, Salem tells them, “It’s you. Without you walking through our doors, this business wouldn’t exist. We’re simply its caretakers.”
And there is a lot to take care of and oversee. Brentwood Jewelry & Gifts has a wide assortment of bridal jewelry, baby jewelry, colored gemstones, pearls, and more.
The master jewelers are experts at designing custom pieces as well as repurposing family heirlooms into more modern, wearable pieces that still reflect the original piece's meaning. New high-end and heirloom watches are also offered, along with watch repair.
The store also carries unique gift items such as writing instruments, leather goods, money clips, cufflinks, and picture frames.
“For me, it is not about the things, and it’s not about the money,” he says. “I work more than anybody else. I'm still here six days a week, but I leave it up to others to make decisions, and whatever decisions they make, I stand behind them.”
One of Salem’s greatest joys is working beside his staff and greeting his customers, whom he’s come to know very well over the years. “They feel like family. I love seeing all the people I have met through the years, seeing their smiles, and seeing their children.”
Many of these children, now adults, stop in to tell him about a special piece he designed and how they’re wearing it as a remembrance of a parent. “That gives me a lot of fulfillment because I can see how things I created have become a piece of legacy that has traveled through time.”
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"I love seeing all the people I have met through the years, seeing their smiles, and seeing their children.”
“I may be the person who started it, but it takes everybody to make it work,” says Salem. “I could not do this by myself.”