The History of Spirit Lake Silver and Gold
As Told by Martin Marten, Owner
How did I get started in the jewelry business? Well, it started with a scam. Yeah, I got scammed buying jewelry. That’s how I got into jewelry!
You know how it is, I was with a girl, and I bought her a ring. So, come to find out, the ring I bought wasn’t actually real. We parted ways (maybe because of the fake ring, maybe not); but I was bit by the gold bug… I wanted to know everything there was to know about diamonds and fine jewelry.
About this time, another girl came into my life. Maybe you know her too, her name was Melinda. Together, we made a plan to go to jewelry school and become jewelers.I worked my way to be a master jeweler, and Melinda found her passion- helping customers and marketing. Together, we opened our jewelry store, Spirit Lake Silver and Gold. In the beginning, I did everything at the bench, from sizing to setting gems and diamonds. I spent many years back there designing and repairing jewelry- everything that came in, I did it.
But we did not stop with just one jewelry school, we knew if we were going to do well as a jewelry store, we needed to be as knowledgable as we could be about the industry. So we went on to learn at GIA, the Gemological Institution of America, where we studied the ins and outs of diamonds, gemstones and gold.After completing training at GIA we traveled the world to buy diamonds, gemstones, gold and silver.
We made relationships with the best, most advanced companies and became passionate about finding the right prices for our customers. Many of those relationships have stayed strong over the years and that is why we continue to keep the prices and quality amazing. What started out as selling turquoise sterling silver rings on the Sand Bar Beach Resort in Spirit Lake, eventually turned into selling diamonds, gemstones, custom jewelry and much more!
43 years later it’s been an awesome ride but we are still not done. We are thankful for all of the support from the wonderful community, friends, customers and employees who have been through thick and thin with us. We have so many people that have come in over the years, who have turned into so much more than a customer, for that we are forever thankful. It has just been an amazing journey for the past 40+ years.Success is not always made by yourself, sometimes it takes a village and we have had the absolute best employees and customers along with us for the ride. We cannot wait to see where else Spirit Lake Silver and Gold can take us and it’s all because of you. We are so thankful!
-Martin & Melinda Marten