Sean Loghman: The Accidental Jeweler

Most successful businesses are born of hopes and dreams. Loghman Jewelers—which at 28 years and counting holds the longest tenancy at Del Mar Plaza—was also born of panic.

Sean and Alan Loghman wanted to move their parents down from the family home in Santa Maria, so the brothers hunted for a space for Mom and Dad to relocate their gift and jewelry shop. The Del Mar Plaza property called their names just from the drawings and model displayed by developers Ivan Gayler and David Winkler in 1987, when the plaza was still a dirt hill.

"This was the crème de la crème," Sean says. "And this space happens to be right on the corner, so whichever way you come up the stairs, you’re going to see it."

He and Alan signed the lease. Then, their parents changed their mind.

"They said, ‘Oh yeah, why not? We’ll do this in San Diego,’" Sean remembers. "And then they said, ‘No, we are not coming. We are happy here—thank you, but no thank you.’ And I think it was a 10-year lease we had just signed. So it was like, ‘Oh my God!’"

The brothers had to open something. Since the family had planned on it being a jewelry store, that’s what it became.

"We thought we might as well do it," Sean says. "It was a leap of faith."

The brothers were both engineers at the time, Sean having studied civil engineering at SDSU. But it was an unfortunate time to be in that industry, since the Challenger space shuttle had just blown up and tens of thousands of engineers were laid off due to mothballed projects.

The brothers were familiar with starting from scratch. They watched their parents do it after the Iranian Revolution in 1979.

"We had lost our home and, more importantly, our country," says Sean, who has lived in America since age 14. Fortunately for their parents, they were visiting Sean and Alan in America when Ayatollah Khomeini seized power, so they didn’t need to flee for their lives.

"The plan was never for my brother and I to stay in America," Sean says. "We came here to finish our education and go back, but we were never able to."

Neither living out the rest of their lives as Americans nor entering the jewelry business, were things that the Loghman brothers planned to do. But Sean says he couldn’t be happier the stars aligned as they did.

"We fell in love with the U.S.," Sean says. "I am so happy because here, you do have a chance to assimilate, to become an American. And I love the jewelry business," he continues. "This is a fun job. Somebody comes in, they’re celebrating a special occasion, and I make them happy."

These somebodies have included Oprah Winfrey, Silvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Demi Moore and Bruce Willis (who dropped in as the couple they were at the time).

"My customers have become my good friends," Sean continues. "I’ve attended their children’s weddings. And I get to travel all over the world in search of designers and suppliers, bringing back fabulous jewels and wonderful memories."

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