By Tammy Smith
When Cliff and Melissa Horne bought the building that would house their new jewelry store, they had no idea they were buying into a family legacy.
“We bought it back in May and totally remodeled it, inside and out,” Cliff Horne says. “We opened on July 20, 2020, and we found out, after we had bought the building, that Melissa’s grandfather, Pete Peters, had worked in this building in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s before he opened his own radiator shop, Ace Radiator.”
Today, a wide variety of rings, necklaces, watches, pendants, pins and other jewelry pieces glisten in showcases here, many of them made by Cliff himself. Horne Custom Jewelry specializes in custom jewelry, preowned jewelry and watches. Stackable rings, paper clip-style necklaces and bracelets and “inside/out” diamond hoops join estate jewelry in capturing the eye and imagination.
“We do it all here except watch interiors, and I have a guy who does that,” he says.
Watches and jewelry have been a part of Cliff’s life for many years.
“My adopted grandfather – the man who raised my mother — was a watch repairman in Yazoo City, and his two sons became jewelers. I think that’s where my passion came from,” he says. Cliff went to Jones County Junior College, where he enrolled in the watch repair vocational program. He got a job at Paris Jewelers in Hattiesburg, where he got a crash course in the real world of the jewelry business, and he added to his repertoire.
In 1994, Cliff came to the Coast and worked at Long Beach Pawn, then at Pav & Broome. After Pav & Broome, he began working from home, making and repairing jewelry. Over the years, he has built a strong clientele.
“But it was hard for people to find me, so we decided to open the store,” he says. New clients are finding him via what Cliff calls his “produce signs” in the front.
The family legacy continues with their daughter, Laney, enthusiastically joining her parents in the business.
“My wife and daughter have learned so much here on the job,” Cliff says. “Laney is like a sponge, soaking up as much knowledge as she can get. She recognizes this is something that can continue for years — a legacy, and one she can continue.”
Cliff thinks it’s that local family business appeal that makes Horne Custom Jewelry special.
“We’re smaller, more of a boutique-style setting,” he says. “Every time you come in, you’re going to deal with me.”
For the Hornes, it’s the people connection that makes doing business on the Gulf Coast so enjoyable.
“I’ve been here all my life, and people who would come to my house are now coming to the store. There are people I’ve been working with 10 or more years, and it’s exciting having new people coming in and establishing friendships with them.”
IF YOU GO
Horne Custom Jewelry, Gulfport
1500 Pass Road, Gulfport
(228) 731-3713
hornecustomjewelry.com
Hours: Monday-Friday 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m.; Saturday 10 a.m.-3p.m.; closed Sunday
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