Even with more than two decades in the business, Jennifer Brooks can’t say that she’s seen it all when it comes to jewelry.

But even if she hasn’t seen it, she can make it.

Jennifer is one of the Brooks behind the counter and behind the name of Brooks Jewelers in Oregon. The shop, which opened in September 2024, sells and creates custom jewelry as well as offering repairs, cleaning, inspection and appraisal, and engraving.

It’s the custom jewelry part of her job where she really shines, just like the pieces she creates.

“I like the emotional payout,” Jennifer Brooks said. “I absolutely love it when someone comes to me [for a repair] and goes, ‘This has been in my family for years,’ and it looks rough where the mounting looks cattywampus and things are missing. Then you bring it back to them as new as you possibly can, and the look on their face – they get a real good look at it and there’s tears. I get hugs, it’s wonderful. It’s why I do it: all those memories wrapped in one.”

Jennifer Brooks is willing to tackle most any project, big or small, and she enjoys the challenge, whether it’s turning people’s precious memories into precious metal or translating someone’s vision in their head to the ring on their finger.

Most of the pieces in the store’s showcases – which range in price from $35 to $4,000 – are ones Jennifer has made. Don’t see what you like? Talk to Jennifer or her husband Nick; they can either order it or have it made in the store.

The Brookses spend a lot of time in their workshop at the back of the store, both making and tending to pieces without having to send them elsewhere – it’s all done in-house, which makes for shorter turnaround times, typically a day or two.

Jennifer handles the jewelry, while Nick handles much of the store’s business aspects and engraving. Engravings can be done on a variety of surfaces, including slate, metal, mirror, glass, wood and leather. Personal touches can even be added, like having an inscription done on a piece of jewelry in a person’s handwriting.

As far as recent trends in the ring scene, rose golds and micro diamonds are popular right now, as well as halo-style rings where the center stone is surrounded by smaller diamonds or gemstones, Jennifer said. She’s also noticed that rings with more flash, or “bling,” are becoming popular, but cautions that the more parts put on a ring, the harder it can be to keep all those pieces on the ring.

“I’ll help people pick something that not only looks intricate, but is actually sturdy and stable,” she said. “It’s going to be worn forever; you want it to withstand some of that wear. The more bling you put in, the less stable the ring becomes. While some things may look real great, they aren’t so great in the long run.”

While not necessarily a new trend, the technology behind lab-created diamonds has improved in recent years to help the stone last longer. They were first introduced to the jewelry market in the 1980s, and are, chemically, still a real diamond and still made with carbon, but are less expensive than a diamond created naturally. The first LCDs wound up turning yellowish and weren’t as stable, but technological advances in the past few years have made it difficult for the naked eye to tell the difference between a lab diamond and the real thing, Jennifer said.

“They’re cleaner, are less expensive and more environmentally friendly because they are grown in a lab instead of being mined from the earth, and so the clarity and color can be controlled a whole lot better,” she said. “I carry it because I know the younger generation today is more financially savvy and more ecologically minded.”

Jennifer Brooks has been a jeweler for 22 years, and recently felt it was time to take her talents to the next level and have a place of her own, she said. She attended Gem City College’s School of Horology, an accredited trade school in Quincy. During that time, she’s been involved in thousands of wedding jewelry decisions – sales, consultations, sizings, repairs, cleanings, appraisals.

Custom jewelry is Jennifer’s specialty, and she’s already taken on several one-of-a-kind wedding projects since opening. She shares some of her creations on the shop’s Facebook page each week.

For some customers, jewelry can be like a link to a special person or cherished memory, and custom pieces can honor those parts of their life and keep them near and dear. Among the projects Jennifer has had a hand in: A bride who wanted to have her father’s ashes incorporated into a restored add-a-pearl necklace; a groom-to-be who wanted to propose to his fiancee not with a ring, but a horse-themed pendant made with stones from an old promise ring; and a woman who wanted her late husband’s wedding ring to be cut and flattened into a piece of a necklace.

“It’s very emotional and very cool that you can do little things that mean so much to people,” Jennifer said.

When it comes to customers, Jennifer has experience with both ends of the spectrum: those who know exactly what they want to those who aren’t even sure where to start. The best piece of advice she can offer is to have a price in mind beforehand; that way, she can narrow down the search to find pieces with the four C’s of jewelry – carat weight, color, clarity and cut – that will fit into another C: cost.

“Have your budget fixed before you start shopping, and tell the person you’re working with what your budget is,” she said. “It’s not a secret. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. That allows me to be able to give you the best deal for what you’re paying. We can find something in budget.”

Working with customers, creating one-of-a-kind pieces, helping people honor the memory of a loved one through a piece of jewelry – for the Brookses, customer satisfaction is the jewel in their crown. If they can find something a customers likes, that they can afford, and that will bring them joy for years to come, then they’ve done their job.

“I hope that they always feel welcome, respected and that I have done everything that I possibly can to make their wish come true,” Jennifer said. “They’ll come in with an idea, and I hope to far exceed what they were coming in with.”

Brooks Jewelers, 113 N. Fourth St. in Oregon, is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. Find it on Facebook, go to brooksjewelers.net or call 815-732-2374 for more information.