RL: When and where was Kay’s Fine Jewelry founded? Where does the name originate from?

D&RC: Founded in 1989, Kay’s is a family-owned and operated business first opening in St.Maarten. For our name, we wanted to honour our parents. Kay was the short form for our father’s name, and our mother’s name started with S, creating Kay’s. We truly believe their blessings are with us as, over the last 30 years, Kay’s has grown across six islands, with nine retail stores, production factories and a wholesale division.

RL: What inspires you to grow your family business?

D&RC: We want to make our parents proud. We grew up in
very humble surroundings and started this business to give
our children better opportunities. Today we are blessed to
have a successful business with many loyal clients, one that
will be continued by our children, creating a lasting legacy
for many generations.

RL: When you expanded, why did you choose Grand Cayman?

D&RC: We have always loved Grand Cayman, and George Town has the perfect blend of locals and tourists. The friendliness and harmony are second to none. We are lucky to be part of this wonderful community and island.

We believe in a saying that we repeat to each other often, “Expansion with Integrity!” When we chose to expand, we wanted to ensure that first and foremost, we had the right team in place to pass on our mission statement of ‘Luxury with a family touch.’ Additionally, we wanted to ensure that our production factory and the family design team could handle the correct sourcing for another family store as our product quality and commitment to customer care can never be compromised.

RL: With over 30 years in business, can you share one special client experience with us?

D&RC: I remember this one like it was yesterday (although it was almost 25 years ago). A client was referred to us by another customer from the state of Wisconsin. As he introduced himself and his wife, he handed us his credit card and walked away. We recall asking him, “where are you going? We have your credit card.” He replied, “Whatever she wants, and I know you brothers will take care of the price. You came highly recommended based on trust and family values, and I know you won’t guide us wrong.” To this day, we repeat this story in our sales meetings and evaluations. In this business, trust and family values are of the highest importance to us.