Hector Chamorro is not exactly new to the block. In fact, he had been working on Chambers Street (at B&H Jewelry, 77 Chambers) for 15 years when Leo, the man who opened this tiny shop originally, approached him to take over. Leo was retiring, he said, and he thought Hector would like the independence. He was right.

“Thank god I got this spot,” he said. “It’s way better working for yourself. Thank god, thank god.”

Hector does any repair on watches or jewelry. (He has restrung pearls for me and even repaired the Omega watch my mother gave my father as a wedding present. He was impressed with that one.) And he sells watch straps, jewelry, batteries, and does engraving.

His wife, he says, has plenty of jewelry as a result of his years in the business, but only once did one of his five sons ask him to pick up something for a girlfriend. The son spent his own money on a necklace, only to break up with the girl within the year – something his father had suggested might play out.

“I told him you have to listen to your father,” he said with a smile. “But that’s ok.”

Hector’s Jewelry Shop
118 Chambers Street
347-724-4912
Monday – Friday 10 to 6