Rob Hallett and Kyle Kotchey are finding it difficult to retire.
The owners of Robert Hallett Goldsmith in Oakmont, a jewelry store and studio, they’ve been designing and making one-of-a-kind jewelry since 1980.
Their custom pieces have become intertwined with the generations of customers who have walked through their shop doors.
“We make people happy,” Hallett said. “We take people’s ideas, or ideas they don’t even have, and create something out of nothing.”
The couple have cultivated a loyal customer base from all over the country. The shop’s current location has been nestled along Allegheny River Boulevard since 1984, a short distance away from the original shop.
Despite announcing their retirement at the end of 2024 and selling out of almost everything in their cases, they’re still receiving messages and orders from customers who trust the artists with their jewelry dreams.
“The first wave were people who had engagement rings made and they want wedding bands for next summer or next September, October,” Hallett said. “Which, of course we’ll do. The next wave was people that had given their wives birthstone pendants for all the grandchildren, but now there’s a new grandchild.”
While the custom jewelry arena is still popular, there aren’t many shops that can do what Hallett and Kotchey have over the years, Hallett said. He spends time getting to know customers and listens to what they want, from the type of metal to specific gems or stones.
Their work has evolved to keep up with constantly changing technology. With the ability to use a computer-aided jewelry design program, Hallett can show a client what a piece of jewelry will look like and make changes with the click of a button.
“People are unique,” Kotchey said. “They want something that’s different and fits their personality rather than just something off the shelf.”
Hallett said he has slept in the shop more than once. During past holiday rushes between Thanksgiving and Christmas, he hung a hammock in the upstairs section of the shop so he could sleep there to meet deadlines. He later upgraded to a roll-away bed.
“You’re dedicated to your customers when you absolutely have to have everything done on time,” Kotchey said.
Lifelong passion
Hallett discovered his passion at a young age.
The jeweler’s father collected muzzle-loading rifles. After a while, the hobby became too expensive and the collection ceased to grow. But it didn’t stop a high school-age Hallett from playing with his father’s old tools.
“I made a three-letter initial pin on graph paper,” said Hallett, 74. “I laid it out on graph paper and sold a couple of them to high school classmates.”
He made $5 — not only a good profit in the 1960s — but an impressive feat for a high schooler’s first foray into the world of metalsmithing.
Despite finding enjoyment in working with metals, Hallett started his college career as a physics major.
It lasted a year before he switched to studying religion. At the end of his sophomore year, he met with his religion professor — Hallett’s favorite professor and the reason he switched to the major — to discuss why Hallett had chosen to study religion.
“He said, ‘What are you doing?’” Hallett recalled. “I said, ‘What do you mean?’”
It was the beginning of a conversation that led to Hallett studying art full time and a lifelong career of jewelry making.
Kotchey began her college career as a journalism major. Her first job was associate editor for a local magazine. She has used her creative eye to take photos of the jewelry the shop sells and to help design the pieces.
“She’s the jeweler, and I’m the guy in the back,” Hallett said.
While Hallett is the hands-on maker, Kotchey handles just about everything else in the shop, including taking orders and paying the bills.
“We were together, so it was, you know — it’s a team thing,” Kotchey said.
The high school sweethearts started their career packing a 1970 Volkswagen Beetle with jewelry and display cases and going on the road to juried craft fairs and trade shows to sell their custom-made rings, earrings, pins, necklaces and bracelets.
Since then, the business grew beyond what the couple had ever imagined.
Robert Hallett Goldsmith boasts five national titles for their designs.
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What’s next
The couple are set to be fully moved out of the shop by the end of February. Another jeweler is supposed to take over the lease in March.
Hallett said he and Kotchey tried to go “cold turkey” with orders and sales about a month ago. It hasn’t exactly worked out.
That’s pretty common in the industry, Hallett said. He knows a jeweler in Williamsburg who is 85 and still making pieces despite retiring in 1999.
“We may continue but not on any kind of retail level,” Kotchey said.
Hallett said he thinks he’ll move away from computer designs and go back to his roots of handcrafting pieces.
“I think I’ll always be designing something,” he said. “When you make something on an anvil and hammer that you polished yourself, it’s a different feeling. I may do that.”