Up to 75% off discounts at Pierce County jewelry store closing this month
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- Family will close van der Veen Jewelers on Dec. 23, offering up to 75% off.
- The business is closing after founder Jann van der Veen died in April.
- Store sold fine and estate jewelry, offered repairs, appraisals and free cleanings.
Local jeweler and gemologist Jann van der Veen was OK not making a sale, his son recalled.
“His thing was, the inventory will speak for itself, it doesn’t need me to talk to the customers,” van der Veen’s son Christopher Korbel told The News Tribune at van der Veen Jewelers on Dec. 11. “ ... He would only purchase quality jewelry to sell.”
Pictures of the van der Veen Jewelers founder show a tall, lanky man with white hair beaming in a bluish-gray blazer over a button-up and blue jeans. In the months following van der Veen’s death, loyal customers have trickled through the store, remembering how much they enjoyed visiting with him and hearing his stories of growing up in Amsterdam. The Dutch man was born in March 1945, just before the end of German occupation of Amsterdam during World War II, and immigrated to the U.S. with his mother and three sisters, his son told The News Tribune.
Van der Veen died due to health complications on April 22, according to a GoFundMe established to support his family and their medical bills. He was 80 years old.
Now, his family is preparing to shutter the store, located at 4711 Point Fosdick Dr. in the Uptown Gig Harbor shopping center. The store’s last day is Dec. 23, and customers can receive discounts of up to 75% off as part of their closing sale.
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The store in Uptown opened in 2014, according to the release.
“Being in the Gig Harbor community has been a dream achieved,” van der Veen reportedly said when the store opened, according to the release. “We love providing our experience and expertise in our hometown … nothing is more satisfying than sharing your trade and passion with people you know and your neighbors.”
The release went on to say that van der Veen “often spoke of how much he valued the relationships he was able to form with people through the years as they purchased jewelry to mark special occasions in their lives or just to add sparkle to their days.”
Glass cases inside Van der Veen Jewelers showcase an array of necklaces, rings, delicate chains and precious stones. The store sells fine jewelry, travel, bridal and estate pieces, carrying several brands including “Gabriel & Co., the No. 1 fine jewelry designer in the US 6 years in a row,” the website says.
The store also provides jewelry repair, custom design, appraisal and watch repair services, as well as free jewelry cleaning services for walk-ins, according to their website.
Korbel, his son, said he was five years old when his stepfather began to enter the jewelry business. Van der Veen joined the industry in 1972 and became a GIA (Gemological Institute of America) Graduate Certified Gemologist and master jeweler, according to the press release.
He ran several stores over a career of over 50 years, starting with his first store in southern California in the 1980s, the release said. He also opened Diamond Expressions in Federal Way in 2000, which is now closed; and a store on Bainbridge Island called van der Veen Jewelry and Kadootjes.
Asked about van der Veen’s favorite pieces, his son Korbel said “it would probably always be diamonds.” Though the store carries them now, Van der Veen resisted selling lab-grown diamonds, preferring the natural stones but seeking diamonds mined without cruelty, Korbel said.
The store hasn’t updated their open hours on their website leading up to the closing. Kristen Dodd, assisting with the store’s marketing, wrote in an email that the plan is to operate 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays.
Korbel, a retired teacher, doesn’t have his stepfather’s knowledge of precious stones, but his instinct is that van der Veen “gave too good of deals.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if oftentimes, his very loyal customers would receive the same discount that his family members received,” Korbel said.
This story was originally published December 14, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
