The First Casualty of Jewelry Retail? Too Often, It’s Lunch.

Ask an independent jeweler if they take a real lunch break most days, and the most common answer — from 78 percent of Brain Squad respondents — is no. The explanations range from resigned to darkly funny, but they all share the same root cause: the moment you step away, someone needs you.

“Every time I heat up my food, a customer comes in and they are usually looking for me,” said Becky Bettencourt of Blue River Diamonds in Peabody, MA. Doreen Vashlishan of Werkheiser Jewelers in Bethlehem, PA, offered the same lament in slightly different form: “You can be assured when you sit down with a hot lunch, customers will come in.”

The workarounds are creative. Gretchen Schaffner of Eytan’s Designs in Sherman Oaks, CA, maintains what she calls “a table of crap — nuts, chocolate, fruit, the occasional what-the-hell-is-this-supposed-to-be” — available throughout the day for grazing. Jo Goralski of The Jewelry Mechanic in Oconomowoc, WI, has tried a more deliberate approach: “I sit down at my desk, implying Leave Me Alone — but that never happens.” Karen Hollis of K. Hollis Jewelers in Batavia, IL, has made a virtue of necessity: “I eat bites here and there. Good way to stay in shape.”

Allison Love of Allison Love’s Fine Jewelry in Rock Hill, SC, answered the question with two words: “A what?” Jan Carlton of Genesis Jewelry in Muscle Shoals, AL, was slightly more expansive: “I rarely have breakfast or lunch. When I try to have lunch, I’m two bites in and must return to the floor.”

The roughly one in five jewelers who do manage a real break tend to be deliberate about it — and several said the investment pays off. “I’ve learned that I have a much more productive afternoon if I take a mental break as well as a lunch break,” said Dianna Rae High of Dianna Rae Jewelry in Lafayette, LA, who packs lunch every morning and eats in the break room rather than at her desk.

Angela Cisneros of Angela Cisneros Jewelry Concierge in Atascadero, CA, frames it as self-care: “I remind myself that I have to take care of me first so that I can take care of others.” Klaus Kutter of A Jour in Bristol, RI, is more pointed: “If you feel like you can’t manage that, then you’re not too busy — you’re disorganized and need to get your priorities straight.”

Marc Majors of Sam L. Majors in Midland, TX, gives his employees an hour and takes one himself. Mark Robinette of Robinette Jewelers in Seneca Falls, NY, goes home. Mark Clodius of Clodius & Co. Jewelers in Rockford, IL, retreats to the break room with a salad and something to read. “I personally fix a nice salad out of our refrigerator, sit in our break room, and sit and read INSTORE magazine, every word — only after INSTORE will I read Rapaport or whatever.”

Most of his peers, though, are still eating at their desks — if they’re eating at all.