TALKING SHOP: The man bringing microbrands to Maryland

How many retail jewelers can claim that they have a shop in the Pentagon? Charles Garcia serves as the owner of family business Lumos Jewelers, which is one of the lucky few. As the second largest office building in the world, a regular flow of curious customers is guaranteed. Garcia spoke with Watch Insider’s Daniel Malins about how to cater to this cross section, while also keeping the plate spinning at its other location in Ellicott City.

Daniel Malins: Can you give me a bit of background on how Lumos Jewelers began? 

Charles Garcia: The company started in 2008 as Royale Jewelers Inc. We were in a mall for 15 years and then about two and a half years ago we thought things were changing in our area and we wanted to be more free standing or in a shopping center, so we moved out of the mall. We were never your typical mall jeweler. 

Then we landed a contract with the US Government for the Department of War. We have a store inside the Pentagon where we serve all the ambassadors, generals, and contractors — I’ve even sold anniversary gifts to British officers visiting for work. You get to meet cool people working at that location and then our Ellicott City location is smack in the middle of the suburbs with a great town and a great community. There are really good watch enthusiasts at both locations. 

DM: In terms of having a store in the Pentagon, it must require a completely different approach to the Ellicott City location? 

CG: The Pentagon location is very interesting because, until three years ago, it was the largest office building in the world. It holds 26,000–30,000 employees daily, so the traffic there is like going to a very popular mall on a Saturday, but everyday Monday–Friday. 

It’s a captive audience. They don’t allow outside visitors, of course, because you have to have clearances and background checks to get in. But, since we’ve opened, we’ve had to increase our watch presence because when you go into almost any government building around the world, you can’t wear a smartwatch and often you don’t know what time of day it is because there are no windows, so you need a good traditional timepiece. 

On average, we change about 35 watch batteries a day because there are 26,000 employees and when people see their watch has stopped working, they need to quickly get it fixed. A lot of them are watch lovers and enthusiasts. We’ve only been there for two years, and we have gone from two brands to now we have seven or eight. For a small watch business it is pretty rapid growth. 

DM: You compared it in footfall terms to a shopping mall, but in a shopping mall there are free market forces. Presumably you have to pay to have access and to have a retail space there? Do you have to know someone who works for the government? 

CG: Since it’s the second-largest office building in the world, I answer to a department who is there to service the staff of the building. They need food options, clothing, jewelry. They have about 12 shops there that aren’t food that are there to cater to the staff, and we were lucky enough to get a call one day asking if we would take a look. 

We had no idea there was even a jewelry store in the Pentagon. At first, I thought it was a prank call, so of course we hung up. We actually hung up a couple of times! They basically told us through their analytics team that they were looking for an independent, local jeweler and asked us to take over from a jeweler who was there previously for 78 years. Once you get into an environment like that and see the building and the sheer volume of people, you realize it has great potential. 

DM: Are there guidelines regarding what you can sell? Or are you allowed to sell what you want and how you want? 

CG: They hired us to service the staff, the visitors of the building, the military ambassadors, the US government employees. They believe that a job like we do helps provide convenience. 

The previous owner had some Caravelle and some Skagen and that was kind of it. I was told that the staff like affordable pieces. But we’ve grown it so much. Now we have Hamilton, Tissot, Seiko, and G-Shock — military personnel love their G-Shock and Casio. Those are the big core names, and then we expanded to Tsar Bomba, which has been one of our number one sellers these last two months. When Tsar Bomba is outdoing Tissot or Seiko, that’s a head-scratcher. 

DM: What would be your explanation for that? 

CG: When you have a captivated audience and people need to stretch their legs and step out of work, we’re one of the stops where they can cruise around and they want to see something new. Whenever you buy a Tsar Bomba, it’s going to be new on your wrist and it’s all interchangeable. You can change the strap in a second, you can change the crown in a second, you can change the bezel in a second. It’s something that keeps on adding on, almost like the Pandora bracelet craze. 

About a month and a half ago we introduced Marathon and in the first couple of weeks we sold maybe eight units. They also have a huge US government and military contract by providing watches to military forces around the world for many different governments. They make a great military watch, and a lot of those guys love it. 

We also introduced three months ago Hampden, which is based out of Chicago. It’s one, if not, the oldest active US watchmaking companies. They quietened down for a while and then I think the grandson of the original owner revived it and now he’s making some great new watches. 

DM: How does that come about? Are you constantly on the hunt for the next opportunity? 

CG: Becca [Florence Davis, owner of sales and consultancy agency, CHP Caliber] contacted me in January of this year. She used to be my rep for Shinola, and now she started her own company repping and supporting microbrands. When she called me, she told me she had four brands to show me. I love watches, so I wanted to set up an appointment and it’s hard for someone like me to reach out to a microbrand directly and ask to sell their watches because a lot of time you don’t get any responses as they’re more concentrated on direct-to-consumer. She drove down from New York and showed me all the brands. There was one brand in particular I told her I was interested in: Tsar Bomba. 

She started gaining traction in the wholesale market and was scheduling interviews with other watch brands and I told her I really liked Venezianico, an Italian watch brand. She interviewed 20 or 30 different watch brands to pick up another line, and that was one of the ones she selected and I was so excited. We have Venezianico coming any day now. 

When it comes to microbrands, right now we have Hampden, Marathon, Tsar Bomba, and Venezianico, and we’ve even made some sales with Briston, a French company. A lot of jewelers around us carry big brands like Longines, Breitling, or Omega, which are phenomenal. I love all watches myself, but I feel like this microbrand niche is working out really well for us. It has definitely kicked up our sales numbers in Ellicott City and inside the Pentagon. Many customers come in wearing their own microbrands and show them to me. I’ve contacted several over the years and I haven’t got much luck, so when Becca came along with some, we gave it a shot. It’s been nothing but success really with all the brands that I picked up from her. I would love to pick up every single brand she represents, but I can only do so much. 

DM: Do you notice, either with the brands you have gone with or those that came close, a difference in the infrastructure and professionalism that you’re dealing with? 

CG: The difference is massive. I’ve been doing this since 2000, for 26 years, and I usually had to deal with bigger brands. I usually tell customers that if they have a quality control issue you’re going to have to give me one to four months, depending on the brand. Whereas I sent two pieces to Tsar Bomba and in eight days they were repaired and back in my store. I get to talk to the VP of US distribution for Tsar Bomba directly, or Becca handles it. If I have an issue with a Seiko repair and call my rep, he is going to give me the 1-800 number for that department, and from there, best of luck. Same thing with Tissot or Hamilton. I’m not saying they’re not good, it’s just longer. 

When dealing with Marathon or Hampden, I have their direct numbers. They pick up their cell phones, ask what I need, and handle it right away because it’s personal to them. It could be the most affordable watch they sell, but they take it completely personally — they want to get it fixed and taken care of. I can say: “Hey my order hasn’t arrived,” and they’re on it, or I ask to give a gift with purchase for my customers and they’re like: “I got you,” because they want their brands to be successful and they want their customers to be happy. 

DM: I guess it’s the perfect time to be in with these guys during the growth phase because they’re having to work extra hard to buy market share, so they’re more inclined to go above and beyond. In terms of the number of brands, are you reaching a stage where you would run out of room? And jewelers often talk about taking collectors on a journey — are you conscious of there being a cliff edge where you get a certain distance with a collector and they’ve got to go elsewhere for the next purchase? 

CG: You’re always chasing that. I’ve had collectors shop with me who eventually say they want an Omega and ask if I can help. I’ve just got to be honest with them — sometimes I can and sometimes I can’t, because there’s the whole pre-owned market which we dabble in. Really, with us, getting all these new watch brands gives them something new. 

For example, I have one collector who got this past year: four Seikos, four Hamiltons, and four Tissots. When I started carrying microbrands, all of a sudden he’s now got a Tsar Bomba. The other day, he drove in because I signed up with Praesidus, a military-style watch brand with sand from Normandy Beach, so I’m always trying to find something to help them scratch that itch.

DM: Would it be a good problem to have if Tudor or LVMH, for instance, came knocking? 

CG: Oh my god, I am a huge Tudor fan. If they came knocking, there would be a hole in that wall believe me! I’d give them however much square footage they want. Working with them would be more like a dream — we want to work up to that. 

We’re independent; it’s not like a family passed it down, it started from nothing. Buy one watch and sell it. My first watch brands were Caravelle, Pulsar, and Citizen. That’s the money I had to scrounge up and, of course, jewelry is a huge business for us too.

DM: How long do you think is a fair amount of time to give a brand? You’re not a charity, you’ve got to make money. At what point is it clear what’s going to work and what’s not? 

CG: Honestly, you can usually feel it within six months. We had to do that with Sultana and TW Steel. Making a decision on an independent brand is much quicker and smoother. For instance, if I wanted to sign up with Seiko now, just their base regular line, there might be a minimum of 65 units and you have to be approved to be an authorized dealer if there’s no-one in your area. With Marathon, I can start with 10 units to test the market, which carries much smaller risk. 

With Tsar Bomba, I started off with my opening order at $14,000 in retail cost in March. By July, I had reordered about $50,000, so that’s pretty large growth already. Now, in my case, instead of having $14,000 in retail I probably have $30,000, so it’s earned real estate. I always say that every case is real estate. Sometimes I have two microbrands in one case, they each have their own display, but you’ve got to earn your real estate by selling and moving units, and it will grow that brand and product. 

DM: How different is selling the microbrands compared to established ones? People passing by your store already know Seiko or G-Shock, but it seems like there’s a bit more heavy lifting involved with selling Marathon or Tsar Bomba. 

CG: We host two watch events a year called ‘Whiskey Watch Wednesday.’ We have a bartender and we cram about 60–70 watch enthusiasts in our store in one evening. Our last watch event was in March, and the next is in October. The one in March was wild to see because Tsar Bomba was new to us, and I had that small opening order I just got that week. At the event, Tsar Bomba beat every other watch brand in my store. Then, the next day after the event two people were waiting at our door because they wanted to accessorize their new Tsar Bomba with a bezel, strap, different colors, and so on. We do that and we also do social media and some of the brands themselves have really strong social media. If they put you on their website as an authorized dealer, you have people come to you specifically. Three days ago, we had a guy who made a stop in Maryland on his way up from Florida just because he thought we had Venezianico and I had to tell him: “Sorry, it’s stuck in customs at the moment”. He was so sad that we didn’t have them. In the last two weeks, we probably had 10 phone calls about Venezianico just because we’re on their website on their store locator. 

DM: It’s hard for business owners to step off the hamster wheel of daily operations. Do you try and take a bird’s-eye view on strategy and what expansion could look like in the coming years? 

CG: Number one, we talk about expanding all the time, even though I’ve only been at this new location for two and a half years. Number two is getting a watch brand at that next price point — we keep thinking about Longines. Venezianico has watches from $700 up to $5000, so if we can move these then it’s going to be super easy to sell Longines. Of course, when you get these bigger companies, you have to have a high dollar buy-in and be prepared to give them a massive amount of real estate in your store. But I think those brands hold their own. Tudor I would also love — if I had those two, I’d be a happy man.

DM: I find that some entrepreneurs have an idea, but by the time it gets off the ground they’re already thinking about flipping that business and doing another. That doesn’t strike me as the case with you, it feels more like a labour of love. But do you think about trying other things? 

CG: My wife will probably drag me away in many years to come. I’ve got three kids, but this is like my other baby so it’s going to be tough to drag me away from this. Whenever the FedEx man walks through my door, I light up like it’s Christmas!

The other day I had a store full of customers and two are big watch guys, so I said: “Do you want to do an unboxing with me? I just got a shipment of Marathon watches.” I put this big box on my bar top, and they sat on the other side and I made them some drinks and they had a blast with it. Those are some of my favorite experiences and things to do with the customers. 

DM: There are easier ways to make money than running a jewelry or watch store, so you have to love what you do, right? 

CG: When I drive to work I’m always excited to just get in there, not only to see what we’re getting into but to help customers with all their occasions, whether it’s treating themselves or whether it’s a special occasion, it’s always exciting. 

Whenever I see a watch leave my store, whether it’s a $99 G-Shock or a $2,000 Hamilton, it’s like a dagger in the heart — you want to keep them all, but you can’t. I really, really enjoy it.

This interview was first published in the September 2026 edition of Watch Insider.