Diamonds Are Forever: Torres-Omar is Chicago's Go-To Jeweler
Cuban links and diamond rings have always been an omnipresent status symbol in hip-hop. From Eric B. and Rakim adorning thick gold chains on the cover of Paid In Full to a 19-year old Lil Wayne popularizing the term “bling” on the aptly titled “Bling Bling,” rappers today have their own signature pieces that they’re hardly seen without. Think of Paul Wall and his iconic Grillz, or DaBaby’s “KIRK” chain that honors his late father. Jewelry doesn’t define an individual but instead helps communicate their own story. In Chicago, there’s perhaps only one name that’s as synonymous with jewelry as hip-hop, and that name is Torres-Omar.
Torres-Omar Jewelers is a 3rd generation family-owned and operated establishment since 1980, located just steps away from the Logan Square blue line station. Joey Torres is the proud son that’s become the face of the franchise. In the past few years, Torres has earned a reputation as the city’s go-to for jewelry with clientele that reads off like a guest list for a music festival, making custom pieces for international superstars like The Weeknd and J. Balvin and local legends like Vic Mensa and Joe Freshgoods.
But Joey wasn’t always on the track to take over the shop. After college, he focused on a 9-5 away from the family business. However, after working a few years doing taxes and digital marketing, Joey realized that those jobs just didn’t fill him with the same pride and passion as working in the shop. Eventually, he dedicated his career to being a full-time jeweler after betting on himself and selling his car just to follow said passion. Being a jeweler was a side hustle for him at first, but as time went on, he saw the greater impact he could make for his family and community.
“My grandpa started it, and my dad took over around 2005. I went to DePaul for three years, and I kind of did my own thing for about three years. I did taxes, I did a couple of digital marketing agencies, but I ended up seeing the differences I can make here, and I came back to the family business.” Joey tells us from his establishment. “I just started full-time about four months ago. There was a time period of like two years where I was full time in downtown doing taxes, and then after hours, just doing social media and planning events for the company. Building my clientele as well throughout those two years, built up to where I can drop taxes and just do the family business full-time. So the side hustle became the main hustle.”
Being a 3rd generation jeweler is an honor that Torres holds with great pride, especially as one coming from Mexican heritage. In Latinx culture, jewelry has a certain mystique to it. From the days of Indigenous civilizations building cities decorated with precious metals like gold and silver to babies today traditionally having their ears pierced just hours after being born, jewelry is omnipresent. Being able to serve those needs for Chicago’s Latinx community is also what Torres-Omar has built its own legacy off of. Despite their list of celebrity clientele, Torres never forgets where he comes from.
“Our culture is very rooted in jewelry. We celebrate quinceañeras, we celebrate baptisms, communions, and all the gifts for those is usually a piece of gold, whether it be a bracelet or some rings, chains,” says Torres. “Our merchandise is rooted in that culture. That’s what we offer, and that’s what we’re proud of. It’s a one-stop-shop. You can come in here for your communions or quinceañeras, or if you want to be flashy, we got heavy stuff like the chains and rings. That’s what I was inspired by, growing up around that. It’s great we can provide that for the Latino culture, and it’s been our bread and butter for the last 39 years. It’s something we try not to stray away from. It’s who we are.”
Joey is more than just a jeweler, and Torres-Omar is more than just a shop. Torres is a creative, and his family’s business is a neighborhood hub. He has figured out that the best investment he can make is in the community, and as such, he’s partnered with many local creatives to give back and celebrate their Mexican culture. Last summer, he partnered with his friends to host “La Carne Asada,” serving tacos and Jarritos instead of hamburgers and Coke. The event was a roaring success. What was initially meant to be a large-scale cookout turned into a full-fledged free block party with a live Mariachi band, plenty of piñata smashing, and a showcase of locally-owned Latinx businesses. Working with other creatives in the city is something that Joey finds great joy in, as it allows for opportunities in which everybody wins.
“My philosophy and approach to it is that we want to help people grow. We want to be able to be a resource for these brands, whether it be a store, clothing brand, whatever it might be. We want to be able to be a resource for them to provide a different type of merchandise for their clientele. But also being in business for so long, we have a name in the community as well, so we wanna use that clout to help them grow and get their names out there as well.”
This ability to form special, tight-knit bonds is something that Joey has learned simply by being raised in the family he says he was blessed enough to be born into. Like any Latino family, values of hard work and respect were instilled into him from an early age.
“We were built on the values of trustworthiness, honesty, hard work, and perseverance. You know there’s a lot of ups and downs that have happened in these 39 years, and thank God I was blessed with a good family that’s very tight-knit. My dad and my mom have shown me the way of doing things. Always being honest, customer service is a very important thing for us. Carrying good quality products for a good price, competitive price. Carrying the legacy is something that’s in the back of my head every day. That’s why I do what I do, so our family name can carry on for another 40 years.”
So far, Joey has carried his family's legacy with excellence and grace by continuing the shop’s tradition of customer service and honesty. Torres-Omar has been a staple in the Logan Square community for almost four decades now with a loyal neighborhood support system. However, it wasn't until last summer that he realized just how far of a reach Torres-Omar has within the entire city. A chance visit to ComplexCon led to the realization of how ubiquitous his own brand is, and it gave him the vision to do more with the family business.
“We [Joey, Dave from Los Slkrs and Aldrin from Entitled] literally bought tickets 20 minutes before ComplexCon started. We were like ‘whatever, we’re hungover as fuck, it’s Aldrin’s birthday, let’s have a couple of drinks and walk around.’ So we’re walking around, and I didn’t realize the kind of footprint we had in that community. We saw a bunch of different creatives and brands rocking jewelry from our store, and that was just eye-opening. These are just people who have so much influence in the community, and they’re like customers of ours. It was that point where I didn’t know we had such a reach within the community, and we can make it grow from there. It was one of those ‘holy shit’ moments. Walking around from booth to booth like ‘oh, I made a piece for Boneyard and Joe Fresh.’ Nigel [Hxlt] was wearing a bunch of our jewelry. It was just a bunch of people who have these huge audiences, so it was pretty cool.”
With this type of brand recognition, Torres decided to claim himself as “Chicago’s Jeweler,” not out of ego or self-importance, but because he runs a business that is truly run by Chicago people for Chicago people. It’s a label that he was even endorsed by Hennessy, who organized an event last fall, recognizing Joey and Torres-Omar for their contributions to the city of Chicago.
“I didn't expect it all. The rep hit me up, and the way it was presented to me was, I thought it was going to be one of those open events that people go to, and they honor certain people. Then the night of, they were like ‘yeah we got the whole private backroom for you and your family’ and I was like ‘what the fuck is going on?’ They had drinks named after my family and me. They had a fucking bottle with my name on it that was autographed by Maluma. It was just really unexpected and really cool at the same time. It showed me that hard work pays off. The main reason I think I was invited to that was because of the Carne Asada with Los Slkrs and everybody. We put our culture to the next step in the Chicago community.”
2019 treated Joey and his family well, especially considering all the risks he took before taking a full-time position as a jeweler. He knew he would have to take a pay cut even though he had a mortgage and bills to pay. However, great rewards don’t come without great sacrifices. Preaching the importance of keeping a positive mindset for positive results, Joey plans to continue that momentum in 2020, as he is already in the early planning stages of different events and ways to expand the business.
“In the end, the risks always pay off. I just stayed focused and kept my belief in God that He was going to guide me the right way. I would say my year was just full blessings and good luck. That’s why I come in here every day, stay focused and work hard because my parents and grandparents have worked so hard to build something for me and my siblings. I go into it with the same mentality to build something for my family, my kids, and carry the legacy.
