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Business & Tech

David Wells Antiques and Jewelry is a Fixture on Cranbury's Main Street

Artist turns creative talent to selling antiques and wearable pieces of art.

David Wells has always had a creative flair, and he put that talent to great use as an art teacher for almost three decades at an elementary school in Marlboro in Monmouth County.

But he also had a love for antiques, and since the 1970s, had been selling antiques out of his home by appointment. And then, in the mid 1990s, a building became available for sale on Cranbury’s iconic Main Street and he decided to buy it. That’s how David Wells Antiques and Jewelry came into being.

“Sometimes I do miss the camaraderie of teaching and the small bit of celebrity that comes with being at teacher. They see you as someone special,” Wells said. “But I love what I do and I still have to be creative every day. It’s not the same type of creativity; it’s not sitting down and drawing things for children and showing them how to do it. It’s moving things around, setting things up, decorating, rearranging, making things look more attractive, getting ready getting ready for holidays – that’s where the creativity part comes in.”

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The store boasts three floors of items including artwork, chandeliers, furniture, coats, books and collectibles, including such historic pieces as a 1904 French bayonet and a book titled, “A Soldier’s Guide to Rome.”

“All of the antiques are local,” Wells said. “They call me when they are moving and paring down or if there is a death in the family. We have expanded our jewelry business. We carry some estate jewelry and also go to the latest shows in Manhattan and Philadelphia Our things are not mass-produced. If you are looking for something that is one-of-a-kind, like a wearable piece of art, you will find it here. Our customers tend to be creative and they are strong, confident women who want to make a statement with their jewelry.”

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Wells recalls with fondness one of the most unusual items he has carried, a collection of Japanese netsukes, miniature ivory sculptures, that were carved as fasteners for kimonos. “One of my personal favorites was a five and a half carat diamond as big as a headlight,” he said. “And one estate had all mahogany 18th century English and American furniture. It was gorgeous and that will never happen for me again.”

Helping Wells in the every day running of the store is his mother, Bess. “We call Mom the front person,” Wells said. “She is the smile in our business. People love her; she talks to everybody and makes them feel comfortable. She reflects an old-time glamour and was quite beautiful in her day. People used to stop her all the time and ask if she had been in the movies.”

Wells has family pictures all over the shop smiling out from frames. “Having pictures around give me a sense of having my family around,” he said. The family includes a brother who lives in Scottsdale, Arizona and a sister who shares her time between New Jersey and Florida. 

Wells says he has loved having his store in Cranbury all these years; his clients feature a good mix of local residents as well as out-of-towners who regard his shop as a destination.  

“We have a lot of people from out of town who visit, maybe come to the Cranbury Inn for a wedding, or they may be visiting a mother or father in one of the many adult communities in the area and they find their way here,” he said. “Cranbury is a marvelous town and every time I look out the windows I feel like I’m in Norman Rockwell painting. The people are friendly and caring and I adore them. I’ve watched so many of their children grow up already.”

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