Wm. Phelps Custom Jeweler started in 1974 at as The Silver Shop the bottom of Loon Mountain in Lincoln, New Hampshire. William and Lois Phelps loved the area, however, the snow and ski area had started changing so they moved the business to Plano, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. Their sons David and John started working at their jewelry store with Dad, Bill. Then in the mid-80’s the oil crunch hit and the economy affected the luxury goods market there. So William and Lois looked for a place that revolved around a vacation season that didn’t require snow. They visited Naples, Florida through Lois’s sister, Ruth, and fell in love with the town.

They met Ann Landers and she immediately showed them The Village and said they must open their shop there. It was still being built. So in 1988, William and Lois opened William Phelps Custom Jeweler in Naples, FL. Today they are one of two original tenants still here today.

In 1992, their thriving business was so busy they required an additional jeweler. They called their son, John, still living in Texas, and told him they were going to hire another jeweler and if he wanted to move out here and work for them that would be great. So John packed up and moved to Naples, Fl. John and Bill worked together for six years and Lois worked in the office doing the bookwork. During this time, John’s girlfriend, Jennifer, moved out from Texas after graduating from UTD and they married in 1995.

In 1998, Bill and Lois decided it was time to retire and sold the business to John and Jennifer. Lois trained Jennifer for the office and bookwork. Now as the owners, John and Jennifer have been running the shop for 12 years.