Niche of Time Jewelry was founded in 1948 by Edward Segrist. Edward was a gunner on a bomber crew in WWII, and like many soldiers after the war he attended watch repair school on the GI Bill.
After attending watch repair school in Albany, MO he opened what would later be Niche of Time Jewelry in 1948 as Segrist’s Jewelry Store. Edward also had training in jewelry repair but built a reputation for himself in watch and clock repair. He was also known for his love of telling stories, especially to the neighborhood children. To this day people will recount their fond memories of Edward’s stories and his kindness towards them from their childhoods.
In the mid 1980’s, Edward’s son Mark began apprenticing under his father after four years of college at Missouri Western State College. Mark then decided to wholeheartedly pursue a career in jewelry at the Texas Institute of Technology in Paris, Texas where he received expert training in jewelry repair, stone setting, fabrication and casting. On a whim, Mark took an elective course in wax carving for custom jewelry having no idea that in several years it would become an integral part of creating his very own line of custom jewelry.
Since then, Mark has furthered his education through the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), the Diamond Council of America (DCA), and countless hours of hands-on-training making Mark St. Joseph’s premier jeweler.
In the 1990’s, the store moved three times until they found their present home in the Wood Lawn Shopping Center around 20 years ago. Originally, Mark not only did watch and jewelry repair for himself but also for local department stores in St. Joseph. In an eight year span, this changed drastically as Mark discontinued all his wholesale trade work and as Niche of Time expanded he began working exclusively out of his own store and having several specialists working for him.
Niche of Time also carries a wide selection of colored gems, fancy colored diamonds, exclusive bridal lines, and signature sterling silver designers such as Frederic Duclos. The store continues to strive to maintain a reputation of integrity, old world craftsmanship, and remarkable service for their clients. “Our goal is to ensure that every customer feels like they are our only customer,” says long time sales representative Carolyn Sagaser.
