Here's your perfect match
A RING AS UNIQUE AS YOUR LOVE. TIME TO MAKE IT YOURS!
Consult with an expert
Service@jrdunn.com
888-362-5787
Create new wishlist
You don't have any products added yet!
You don't have any products added yet!
Generations of family, longtime team members, and loyal clients have helped build J.R. Dunn.
Most people know the J.R. Dunn story starts with Jim and Ann Marie in 1969. But the family behind the business has grown well beyond the two people who started it. Some are connected by blood. Others have spent enough years here that the distinction hardly seems to matter. Together, they have helped shape J.R. Dunn across generations.
Ann Marie’s younger brother, Robert Pelliccia, has been part of J.R. Dunn’s history for more than 44 years, starting well before he was old enough to work. “When I was ten years old, I’d go with Ann Marie and Jim to the jewelry store on the weekends, clean cases, and stand next to them listening to them talk to customers,” Robert said. “At twelve years old or so, I started talking to clients myself.”
When he officially joined the business, Robert wanted to design, but Jim and Ann Marie encouraged him to learn repairs first. He worked from a tiny bench with a buffing machine and torch, learning the craft while experimenting with his own ideas. Along the way, he learned from other jewelers and, as he readily admits, from his own mistakes.
That foundation eventually led to Robert becoming a 23-time award-winning designer. Around the store, though, longtime clients knew him simply as Bobby. Some still do. “Sometimes customers come in with rings I made 40-something years ago,” he said. “They’ll say, ‘Oh Bobby, you made this for me so many years ago!’” Eventually, Robert asked Ann Marie to introduce him to clients by his full name rather than “Bobby, our designer.” Today, he leads the Robert Pelliccia Design Studio, building on the craft he first learned at that small bench.
Robert’s wife, Tammy, has worked at J.R. Dunn just as long, stringing pearls after Ann Marie taught her how. Their son, Matt, also grew up around the store, even taking on some of its less glamorous jobs.
“My uncle Jim would pay me to clean the grout of the tile,” Matt said. “I was a young kid, just excited to be involved. So there I was, in the middle of the floor, cleaning the grout with a brush. I guess that’s where I started, from the ground up.”
Eighteen years later, he now serves as Tech Lead, helping J.R. Dunn explore new technology while being careful not to lose the personal interaction at the center of the business. “Keeping that human touch while incorporating AI on the backend is really important,” he said.
At J.R. Dunn, family isn’t defined only by a last name. Steve has spent 16 years on the e-commerce team. “A lot of companies say they have a family atmosphere, but at least for me, it’s actually true here,” he said.
Jim Dunn always encouraged Steve to approach problem solving within his role as if he were running his own business, with the freedom to bring ideas directly to ownership. He also noticed something when he arrived: people stayed. He met employees who had already been with J.R. Dunn for 10, 15, or more than 20 years. Now, 16 years later, he’s one of them.
Andrew has a similar perspective. After more than 45 years in the jewelry industry and 20 at J.R. Dunn, he says the way people are treated here has remained remarkably consistent.
“You get to know people as not just coworkers or clients, but as people,” Andrew said. “That’s the family feeling you get.”
Perhaps the clearest measure of that continuity can be found in the clients themselves. Robert remembers when the Florida showroom had only six or eight showcases and business came almost entirely through word of mouth. Today, he sees clients whose grandchildren shop at J.R. Dunn. Matt has experienced it, too. He has helped one family through the engagement rings of several children and now continues to work with them as that next generation starts families of its own.
Andrew has watched the same thing happen over 20 years. “I’ve had clients who I’ve helped when they first got engaged, then helped with their wedding, anniversaries, and special occasions,” he said. “Now I help their children.”
It helps explain what he means when he says J.R. Dunn doesn’t feel like a typical jewelry store.
“When you walk through the door, it feels like you’re walking into someone’s home,” Andrew said. “People know you, they remember you, and they genuinely want to help you.”
J.R. Dunn has grown considerably since Jim and Ann Marie opened their doors in 1969. New generations have joined the business, the team has expanded, and the tools and technology have changed. What began with one family has grown to include the people who have built their careers here and the clients who have returned year after year, often bringing the next generation with them.
More than five decades later, that growing circle of people remains at the heart of J.R. Dunn.
