At just 13 years old, Richard Eiseman Jr. ’77 spent his afternoons stacking watch boxes and helping out in his parents’ jewelry store. Eiseman Jewels, which his parents opened in 1963, became a second home to him.
“I developed an interest in the business, and then as soon as I could drive, I ended up working in our downtown store,” said Eiseman.
From dinner table conversations to helping behind the counters, Eiseman has always been a part of Eiseman Jewels. After finishing college and gemological school, Eiseman returned to Dallas and worked his way from the bottom to become president of the company in 1997.
“I worked underneath [my father’s] management team, and then put my stamp on the business in my mid-to-late 30s,” said Eiseman.
Education
Eiseman began attending Greenhill in the fifth grade and was involved in various activities. Despite the smaller offerings, he was able to make the most of his eight years.
“We didn’t have many cultural arts, like theater and band today, since the school was smaller,” said Eiseman. “I spent a lot of time playing tennis and soccer for a number of years, and then golf in my junior and senior years.”
Aside from his athletic endeavors, Eiseman also enjoyed being part of the Latin Club and working on the business side of The Evergreen.
“I sold ads for The Evergreen and I went on to do that again in college,” said Eiseman.
Eiseman’s graduating class at Greenhill had 41 students, compared to the current senior class of 124. Starting in eighth grade, Eiseman had the same group of classmates until senior year.
“The campus was nowhere near the size it is now, but Greenhill was challenging academically, and they wanted to create a whole student,” said Eiseman.
Despite the school’s smaller size, it provided the opportunities and foundation that he needed to succeed in college and later in life, says Eiseman.
“Being such a friendly and small place, you felt comfortable around people to express yourself,” said Eiseman.
After graduating from Greenhill School, Eiseman attended Claremont Men’s College, now known as Claremont McKenna College in California.
“Although I wasn’t in leadership or student government [at Greenhill], I have a lot of friends that I’ve kept, which prepared me to be able to go on to a school like Claremont Men’s College,” said Eiseman. “The work ethic that I learned at Greenhill, which I then applied there, really has served me well.”
Following his undergraduate education, Eiseman had initially planned to work in the jewelry industry before joining his family’s business. However, when his father was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, he felt compelled to go straight into earning a graduate degree from the New York Gemological Institute of America.
There, he took an intensive course in how to handle and grade gems. Grading is the process of evaluating a gemstone’s quality and value based on factors such as carat weight, cut, color, clarity and overall proportions, according to the industry website Topazery.com.
“Since my father was sick with Parkinson’s, we sped up my post-undergraduate education,” said Eiseman. “I finished top of my class in gemology, and then came back to the family business.”
Business Career
By the time he joined Eiseman Jewels as an adult, Eiseman says he was ready for the challenge because of what his father had taught him about the business growing up.
“When you are the son of the owner, you are either handled carefully and given everything, or the opposite,” said Eiseman. “My dad did the opposite, and I got all the tough assignments, all the long hours, and then his team had the liberty to instruct, guide or reprimand me. So, I learned a lot by doing things correctly or incorrectly or by trial by fire.”
When Eiseman officially joined his father at age 23, he started at the bottom of the corporate ladder and worked his way up.
“I was not in a management or leadership role until I was in my late 30s,” said Eiseman.
When his father passed away from Parkinson’s disease in 1996, Eiseman joined with associate Jerry Goldwyn to run the business.
“My father had the greatest eye for creating our inventory and collection so that it wasn’t overly branded and that every case was designed by someone else,” said Eiseman. “That set ourselves apart from other stores.”
Eiseman Jewels has aimed to create a collection of talented designers while still customizing and building their own jewelry collection since its opening, according to Eiseman.
“Eiseman is synonymous with value and quality, and when you think about going into jewelry stores, ours always stands out as unique in our offering,” said Eiseman.
In 1997, Eiseman became president of the company.
Since then, Eiseman Jewels has become the first stand-alone Rolex shop in Texas and was chosen for the National Jeweler’s Retailer Hall of Fame in 2010. Only one store a year is inducted into the National Jeweler’s Single-Store Independent Retailer Hall of Fame, which recognizes jewelers who have inspired their peers and made significant contributions to jewelry retailing.
Additionally, Eiseman expanded his store from a 1,250-square-foot space to almost 6,000 square feet at NorthPark Center.
“The corner location became available in 2000, and we expanded into that under my leadership,” said Eiseman.
Leadership
Over his years in the business, Eiseman has been able to overcome many challenges and see his business grow.
“Challenges become more manageable with more experience, and once you’ve experienced something once or twice, you have a better understanding of how to address the situation to get a positive outcome,” said Eiseman.
As president, he hopes to foster a team culture rather than a corporate hierarchy to help team members grow as individuals.
“My greatest challenge is trying to make sure that I motivate each person so they can grow emotionally, professionally and financially,” said Eiseman. “Those are my goals with [anyone who] comes to work with our organization.”
Knowing that long retail hours can be draining for his team, Eiseman closes his doors on Sundays and many holidays.
“I’m very fond of our quality-of-life initiative for our team, so we don’t keep long hours that keep people away from quality family time,” said Eiseman. “If you take care of your team, they take care of the clients, and it works hand in hand.”
Future
In the fall of 2023, Eiseman Jewels began a year-long 60th-anniversary celebration. A centerpiece of the celebration was undertaking 60 acts of kindness dedicated to the North Texas philanthropic community.
“We like to support our community and give back, so we are in the middle of our 60 acts of kindness initiative, where we’re giving financial support to nine areas of need in our community,” said Eiseman.
These areas include mental health, food insecurity, homelessness, education, early childhood education, hospitals, public spaces, first responders and veteran support.
“These areas are important to our city, so we have been investing in those many charities to give them strong financial support,” said Eiseman.
As Eiseman supports the Dallas community, he also remembers his experience at Greenhill.
“As I look back on my Greenhill years, growing up and seeing Dallas change, [I see] how many great leaders and people have emerged from Greenhill,” said Eiseman. “They touch every aspect of business, civic [and] charitable areas of our city, and we’re lucky to have great private schools in Dallas with Greenhill as a pinnacle among them.”
