History of Leo Hamel Fine Jewelers

Leo Hamel Fine Jewelers has been in business for over 25 years.  It all started with a charismatic, persistent and hard working young man named Leo.  Leo got his first taste of the jewelry business working as a sales associate for one of San Diego’s largest department stores.  He quickly became the top selling salesman.  After mastering the field as a salesman and with $125 in his pocket, he set out to venture on his own.

Leo originally started selling diamonds out of his briefcase.  He also set up shop at swap meets, fairs, and any other gatherings he could find.  Leo soon learned that collecting the names of everyone he met coupled with staying in contact with them was the key to growing a strong customer base.   After a couple of years, Leo was doing enough business to open his first store on El Cajon Blvd.  It was very tiny but got the job done.  Leo then recruited Lisa Hamel (his sister and business partner) and Robin Hart as his first employees.  His store specialized in pre-owned Rolex and Patek Phillipe watches, as well as fine cut diamonds and Japanese pearls.

A few years later, the business moved to a larger store. Ah...Now we had a little more room, although it was still not much! It was at this location that Lisa's husband, Dano McCarthy joined us. As a company, we gained expertise in fine estate jewelry and colored gem stones.

A couple of years after that brought another move for us, further west on El Cajon Blvd.  Here our fledging company really started to expand. It was there that Leo Hamel Fine Jewelers began to take on national brands of distinction, such as IWC, Ulysse Nardin and Omega watch companies. Also onboard was the elite Hearts on Fire Diamond brand.

Leo's philosophy was that, "we are off the beaten path and can give a great deal along with excellent service to our customers". Even though we've expanded each new store to progressively become larger and more beautiful, the feeling of a family-owned and operated store has stayed with us and our customers. That family bond we've created just makes doing business feel good, and with that, our loyal customer list continues to grow!

Finally, we opened our second location in Solana Beach and moved away from the colorful characters of El Cajon Blvd. Our beautiful Old Town location is the largest and most complete, full service fine jewelry store in the San Diego County. We also are the largest Estate Jewelry & Watch Buyers in San Diego. Our Estate Jewelry Department will buy anything of value including diamonds, fine Swiss watches (Rolex, Cartier, etc.), designer and estate jewelry, gold, platinum, silver, coins, and more.   Though our company has grown a lot from the original "store in a briefcase", many of Leo's original customers still shop here along with their children and children's children!

We look forward to seeing you soon! We are making some very positive changes in our underlying philosophy and we hope that you will visit us soon so you can experience them for yourself. We do not believe that you will find better service, value and just a good shopping experience anywhere else.