HER OWN SETTING

A third-generation jeweler finds her own place in the family business.

CHRISTINE RAZNY-PORTER’S oldest daughter is only 6, but she already has a question whenever she visits Razny Jewelers: “Who can I sell to today?”

Christine laughs when she tells the story. She recognizes a little of her father, Stan Razny, in her daughter’s enthusiasm. Stan loves having his grandchildren in the store, just as Christine’s grandparents and parents welcomed her there when she was growing up. Some Saturdays, her mother, Ingrid, would take Christine and her siblings to the Portillo’s near the Addison store while Stan was working over weekends.

“Who doesn’t love sparkly things?” Christine says. “What a great industry to be born into.”

Razny Jewelers was founded by Christine’s grandparents, and for much of her childhood, she assumed she would join the family business. She took a path of her own to get there, studying advertising and marketing in college before moving to New York for gemology school. She loved the pace of the intensive program, with its weekly tests and seemingly endless details to master, with a final exam that required a perfect score to earn the degree.

By the time she finished, her parents were preparing to open a store on Oak Street in Chicago. They asked her to come home and help.

The new location introduced the suburban business to a different clientele and gave Christine a chance to put her training to work. She learned the watch brands alongside the jewelry and discovered that, in a family business, a job description rarely tells the whole story.

“At Razny Jewelers, everyone has to be nimble and open to doing anything,” she explains.

Some 15 years later, Christine has worked across the company. She still loves helping a customer find the right piece, but much of her recent focus has been on marketing and the feeling people have when they enter a Razny store. As the company grows, she wants its presentation to reflect the luxury brands it carries and the family that stands behind it.

“You can buy anything on the internet,” she says. “What makes us different is the warmth that we give to every client when they come in. Whether it’s a repair or a large purchase or a life milestone. I think people feel that. We hope that’s what our clients experience.”

Christine’s own sense of style has found a home in Refined by Razny, a collection of diamond essentials she develops and curates with her mother. She envisioned pieces women could put on in the morning and keep on through school drop-off, work and dinner. A tennis bracelet, in her view, should feel just as right with someone’s everyday jewelry as it does at a special occasion.

“I really want other women to be able to look at it and be like, wow, I could wear that all the time,” she says.

The designs are classic, often with a small twist, but Christine is just as interested in what happens after someone takes a piece home. She encourages clients to layer jewelry, mix metals, and wear what they love. She especially enjoys helping someone reimagine an inherited piece. An older setting can be taken apart, its stones used in a design that suits the person who owns it now. The connection to the original piece remains, but the jewelry becomes part of everyday life again.

“Nothing makes me happier than when someone comes in with an heirloom they have inherited and ask our help to give it new life,” she says. “Jewelry should be worn—not sitting in a safe.”

Christine has lately found herself drawn to estate sales and vintage shops, where older objects offer the same sense of character and possibility. She took up needlepoint this year, too, enjoying the chance to work with her hands.

At home in Lake Forest, Christine and her husband are raising three young children. Living near the store helps her move between work and school pickup, and she enjoys seeing friends and neighbors come in, whether they need a repair or are celebrating a milestone. The balance can be difficult, she says. But when Christine thinks about her own childhood, she remembers her mother’s work at Razny as part of family life.

“I hope my kids see the same,” she says. “I can show them that you can do both.”

Perhaps one day, one of those children will become the fourth generation at Razny Jewelers. For now, Christine is happy to watch her daughter walk into the store and look for someone to help. She knows the pleasure of growing up there. She also knows how rewarding it can be to find your own place in the family business.

To learn more, visit razny.com. Additional clothing sourced from Christine’s personal wardrobe, with pieces from The Lake Forest Shop and My Best Friend’s Closet.