MAZZUCCHELLI’S the Jewellers first opened its ‘golden’ doors in 1903 in Boulder, Western Australia under the partnership of watchmaker Matthew Mazzucchelli and jeweller Sam Downes. Matthew’s father, Joseph, an Italian from the village of Poschiavo in Switzerland, emigrated to Australia as a miner in 1859 during the Victorian gold rush.
Matthew was born in 1876 in Stawell, Victoria and trained there as a jeweller and watchmaker for 8 years before moving to Coolgardie in 1898 and to Boulder soon after. In 1901, he married Clara Christina Cronk, daughter of Boulder grocery store owner and former Australian sprint champion “Honest” George Cronk.
Mazzucchelli and Downes store in Lane Street, Boulder – Photo SLWA
The shop moved to Hannan Street in Kalgoorlie in 1905. Mr Downes left the partnership in 1912 to set up a business in Albany and the single Mazzucchelli name-over-the-door was born. Trams from Boulder to Kalgoorlie ran based on the time of an imposing clock at the Mazzucchelli & Downes shop-front. The clock has since been restored and hangs out the front of the old British Arms Hotel which is part of the Western Australian Museum Kalgoorlie-Boulder.
British Arms Hotel Kalgoorlie – photo Outback Family History
THE Cyclopedia of WA, 1913, described the founder thus: “In a quiet and effective way, he has interested himself in many affairs pertaining to the progress of the town, but on account of a very retiring disposition has consistently declined to accept any prominent public office. He takes a deep interest in all church work and holds office as a vestryman in St. Matthew’s Anglican Church, Boulder. He has been an enthusiastic cyclist ever since the wheel first made its appearance in Australia, and still continues to take exercise in this way.”
Joseph was described in his immigration documents as 18 years old, small, with brown hair, black eyebrows, grey eyes, and “a moderate nose.”
Miss Beryl Mazzucchlli looks up, cocks an eyebrow, and says in a sly, corner-of-the-mouth sort of way: “I’m the last of the Mohicans.” It is an expression the last surviving child of the founder of Mazzucchelli’s the jewellers, Matthew Earnest Mazzucchelli, enjoys repeating. She has always lived in the ornate blue and white painted house her father bought in Thomas Street, Subiaco when the family moved to Perth from Boulder 75 years ago. Her twin sister, Thelma, shared the house with her until her death a few years ago.
The Mazzuchelli Building when take over by Mr Manhire
“Miss Mazz” is a matriarch of a family name that has been viewed with delight by generations of West Australians at the most special times of their lives, from Christmas to birthdays to engagements and weddings. For every hapless chap led towards a Mazzucchelli window for a “casual” glance at an engagement ring, there was probably an envious glance across the boardroom table to a Mazzucchelli-purchased Rolex.
Miss Mazz – Beryl Mazzucchelli
Now the blokes will still be hearded towards the windows of Mazzucchelli’s seven WA stores, and the old Italian name will remain in the birthday hints dropped like lead balloons. But the family behind the name will have moved on.
On September 30 1996, the 93-year-old family business was bought by Adelaide-based Sheppard’s Jewellers, with settlement to take place on December 31. Mazzucchelli’s managing director Max Carter describes the deal as simply a change of shareholding–all of the businesses’ legal obligations remain the same. People should not panic about their diamond ring in for repairs being forgotten or their gift vouchers being dishonoured. Ten people in the company’s administration side lost their jobs, but about 85 Mazzucchelli’s service staff remain and will keep their generous superannuation plans under the new owners. Mr Carter, 67, will retire some weeks after Christmas when the deal is completed. According to Mr Carter, Sheppard’s Jewellers, which has five stores in Adelaide, will maintain Mazzucchelli’s position in the marketplace.
“They want to operate an up-market chain, such as ourselves, and I can’t believe they’d want to let the image drop because that’s what they’re buying. They’re buying a business with an extremely good name throughout Australia and overseas.”
Former director Don Mazzucchelli said that its obvious the family has mixed feelings about the end of the dynasty. The business was carried on over four generations, by descendants of Matthew Mazzucchelli’s only two sons, Harold and Edwin (Known to all as Pod). Miss Mazz, for example, exclaims vehemently:
“Dad would leap out of his grave if he knew what the boys have done.”
Pod’s son Don agrees solemnly that his deceased father would not be happy about it. Mr Carter, who married Harold’s only daughter, Beris, and joined the business in 1961, says he knew that in the long-term, the decision had to happen. None of the 13 children from the five Mazzucchelli families, the children from Harold’s offspring Beris, 60, Richard 56 or Pod’s progeny, Don, 57, Robert, 56 and Bruce, 50, had wanted to carry on the business. In their 20s and early 30s, all have their own careers from teaching to medicine to clinical psychology.
Apart from Simon, (Mr Carter’s 36-year-old son), there was no interest at all in the business and ultimately somebody is going to say I want out. Business has been very, very tough for eight years, not our business specifically, but retail in general and I suppose everyone gets sick of that. Extended trading hours were a contributing factor in their decision to sell. Major retailers and politicians bombarded people about what a good idea extended trading hours were, while families running small businesses paid the price.
For Harold’s son Richard, a 56-year-old minerals exploration geologist: “We’re all pretty proud of Mazzucchelli’s lasting as a family business or nearly 100 years. But he (his father Harold) would have been quite surprised it’s still going, I think.” Harold Mazzucchelli died in September after a long illness, the same month in which this particular chapter of WA retail history came to a close. “It would have been nice to carry on but there just weren’t the people willing to do it. I would have liked to see it get to 100 but I am not prepared to give up my working life,” says Richard.
For the Mazzucchellis, in the end, it came down to one final choice about which came first, the family or the family business. In the end, the family won.
Mazzucchelli’s at Westfield, Geelong, Victoria – Photo SLVIC
Moya Sharp
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