LATEST NEWS Home For The Holidays LoginSubscribe Newsletters Contact HOME NEWS EVENTS COMMUNITY LINKS PHOTOS ARCHIVES PONCA CITY MONTHLY McGee Jewelers: A precious gem, serving the community for over 100 years. Tue, November 23, 2021Laina Smith/Staff Writer There aren’t many jewelry stores in the state of Oklahoma that have been open for over 100 years. McGee Jewelers, however, opened its doors in Blackwell, Oklahoma, for the first time in 1907, making it one of the oldest jewelry stores in the state. The McGee family was a part of the farming community in Winterset, Iowa. Matthew McGee, Matt McGee’s great-great-grandfather, was in the cattle industry. When he passed away, John, Matt’s great-grandfather, got his share of the estate and sold it to start his jewelry business. The original McGee Jewelers was opened in 1896 in Cherokee, Iowa, by John Marion McGee. When the store first opened, it mainly sold watches, although they did offer other types of jewelry. In addition, McGee’s wife, an optician, fixed eyeglasses, as you didn’t go to an eye doctor to get glasses then; you went to a jeweler. “He went to watchmaking school,” Matt McGee said. “She went to optometry school in 1896 in Omaha, Nebraska. Then they moved to Cherokee to open up a jewelry store.” Because of the weather conditions in that area, John and his wife decided to move and find a new location to open their business. They looked at San Francisco but ultimately settled on Blackwell, Oklahoma. “It was so cold,” McGee said. “No central heat and air back in those days, so they went onto a train and searched America for a place to settle down and build a jewelry store. They went to San Francisco and thought, ‘Well, San Francisco is a pretty nice place to open a jewelry store’ so they went back and on the way back, they heard that San Francisco had just got hit by an earthquake and destroyed the whole town. So they ended up going to Blackwell, Oklahoma, of all places because that was where the train stopped.” When the zinc factory in Blackwell went out of business in 1976, the company moved to Ponca City and has been here ever since. Where McGee Jewelers sits now on Grand Avenue in Ponca City was once Julie Berman’s drugstore, Rexall. The jewelry store has stayed in the family for five generations. First, John and Minnie passed the store down to their sons, known as the McGee Brothers. It was then passed down to Matt McGee’s father and uncle, who moved to Norman, Oklahoma, and opened his own store on campus corner. The store in Ponca City is now run by Matt McGee, whose son will take over once he retires. McGee Jewelers is a “traditional” jewelry store, as Matt would call it. The business offers many services and products for its customers. “We do ring sizing,” McGee said. “Fine jewelry repair and some costume jewelry repair. Repair metal frame eyeglasses still … We have a laser welder, so we weld with the laser, which is a long way from the oxyacetylene torch we used to use, which is a really neat technology … The other technology that we have that we haven’t had in the past is laser engraving … We do some watch repair. We do diamond settings. Of course, our main deal is bridal. The diamond sales are still one of the premier things we do. We do appraisals on fine jewelry, fine watches, as well. Anything the old traditional jewelry store would do, we still do.” McGee Jewelers prides itself because they continue to offer so many services to their customers rather than solely focusing on retail sales. “We’re getting to become more and more extinct as big corporate America does not do the service work so much because there’s no money in it,” McGee said. “They don’t mess with anything that doesn’t make a lot of money. They’re more into the retail sales, which we love to bring in as many retail sales as we can, so we still do the watches, rings, bracelets all in 14-karat gold.” McGee’s stands out across the state of Oklahoma compared to other jewelry stores because of the services they offer and how long the business has been open, and all the history that comes with it. “Our tradition,” McGee said. “We’ve been here for so long … Downtown Ponca City, since I came here in 1976, the only one that is still here that was here then, family-wise, is Junior’s Gun and Lock Shop … Other than that, everything’s changed … We have generational buyers. ‘My grandfather bought a ring from here. My great-grandmother bought a ring from here.’ I just love to hear those stories … With our laser welding, I don’t think anyone else in town does that. I don’t think anyone does the laser engraving that we do. I don’t think anyone has some of the products that we have. I think we have one of the largest selections in Kay County. We’re still family-owned.” Something McGee’s believes people should take advantage of is their laser engraving and welding. They can also engrave on the watches and other jewelry, such as wedding rings that they carry or even something as small as a zipper pull on a backpack or jacket. In addition, the store can engrave images or logos on metal objects. The laser welding McGee’s offers allows them to size rings and other jewelry quickly without leaving solder lines. It is also much more substantial than earlier sizing techniques. “The lasers are what’s really been a big difference,” McGee said. “It’s the most major jump we’ve had in a hundred years, probably.” McGee’s prices allow the business to offer its services and products to a broad customer base. Their primary target audience is people in their late 20s looking to get married. Being in Ponca City, however, allows McGee’s to target older audiences as well. “Because we do such a wide variety of things, that’s who we try and target,” McGee said. “But we end up targeting the older people too because Ponca City has become more of a retirement community as the time’s gone by.” McGee’s is continuing to expand as a business today. The jewelry store has something new they are looking forward to unveiling in the future, although they are keeping it on the down-low. “It’s going to be a big deal,” McGee said. “We think it is, and we think it’ll be really nice and a big thing for Ponca.” If you are looking to purchase jewelry from McGee’s or need a piece worked on, you can visit the store, open Mon.-Fri. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m.-3 p.m. For more information about McGee’s and their products or services, you can visit their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/McGeeJewelers1907/ or call them at 580-765-2636. EVENTS 28 NOV Festival of Angels 06:00 PM - 10:00 PM Pioneer Woman Ponca City OK 74604 3 DEC Ponca City’s Annual Lighted Christmas Parade 06:00 PM - 07:00 PM Grand Avenue Ponca City OK 745601 3 DEC Lighted Christmas Parade & Christmas Open House Weekend (all weekend) All Day Event 100 block east grand Ponca City OK 74601 4 DEC Free Holiday Movies at The Hub 11:00 AM - 01:00 PM 16601 West South Avenue Tonkawa OK 74653 MORE EVENTS POPULAR RECENT 1 Stone Barn Story Enters a New Chapter 12/01/2020 2 Bird Scooters coming to Ponca City on September 27 09/16/2021 3 Four Ponca City Fighters Set to Compete this Weekend in Enid MMA Competition 07/29/2021 4 Debra Rue Tells the Untold Story of the 12 Pioneer Women Statues 03/13/2021 5 Business Spotlight: Hideaway Marina 08/01/2021 THIS WEEK'S POLL Do you plan to get vaccinated? 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