"With 1200 customers a day over Thanksgiving weekend, the one thing I wish we had more of is space."

In 1999, Marion and Lula brought in architect Tom Casey and gave him a $1,000,000 budget to turn Traditional Jewelers into their dream store. Today, Newport Beach residents and tourists seem to proclaim this is their store, flocking in droves on a daily basis to bathe in the wonderful atmosphere, warm service, and spectacular jewelry. Visitors can enter a showroom that Halfacre calls "light, bright, cheerful and inviting" through two separate entrances. He says customers generally notice the sheer vastness of the store first, before gazing upwards thirty feet above their heads at the mural. The showcases are custom designed, curved to work around the building. "It's not your typical jewelry store, with everything square and straight," he says. Because the store is round, Halfacre points out that "you can't prop something against the wall and hide anything," so everything has to be pristine.

Besides the natural light pouring through the huge windows, Traditional Jewelers boasts another innovative lighting technique: the sconces placed strategically around the walls project soft beams of red and blue upwards. "Each halogen lamp shines up through a prism," explains Halfacre. "I've never seen it used in another store, but it's absolutely beautiful."

Another stunning aspect of the store is the room called "The Creation of Time." Set off from the main showroom, this area showcases Traditional Jewelers' many lines of fine watches from across the globe. Another circular ceiling mural, this one 12' x 12' and backlit, depicts God creating the sundial (rather than the stars and the moon as in Michelangelo's original). Twenty cases varying from six to nine feet long.