Store Trek is a regular Voice column
profiling new stores and businesses in Noe Valley. This month
we introduce a designer jewelry and watch repair shop, and a
title company that prides itself on customer service.
Raquel Settels
displays some of the bejeweled belts she offers at her
new boutique on 24th Street near Castro.Photo by Pamela Gerard
Raquel Settels Metalsmith
4126 24th Street between Castro and Diamond streets
415-821-9979 raquelsettels@gmail.com
Raquel Settels opened the doors
to Raquel Settels Metalsmith, her new jewelry boutique and
studio, on June 15.
She didn’t have far to walk—the
shop is tucked under her Victorian home at 4126 24th St., next
to Barney’s Hamburgers.
Settels, a recent graduate of
the San Francisco–based Revere Academy of Jewelry Arts,
designs and makes most of the jewelry sold in the shop.
Trained as a metalsmith and stone worker, she beads necklaces
and uses a torch to shape pieces at her jewelry bench in the
back room of the 900-square-foot space.
As the Voice arrived
for an interview, she had just finished stringing a necklace
made of aquamarine stones, which she planned to price at $250.
On a tour around her shop,
Settels pointed out flower petal shaped glass candlesticks
that she had bought on the archipelago of Sweden, her country
of birth. Settels liked the glass so much that she bought some
to make into jewelry. “I made drop earrings that have sold
very well,” says Settels. (A pair goes for $60.) “They are
uneven because they are handmade.”
Displays of her earrings, beaded
necklaces, rings, and brightly colored stone bracelets fit
comfortably among hand-dyed scarves, a few small-press books,
and wide leather belts decorated with hematite or rose quartz
($210 and $168).
Yellow walls, accented by Asian
art, provide a warm background to the glass-fronted jewelry
cases. Settels and her husband, Norman Fargo, decorated the
shop with their own furniture, including three antique wooden
tables. A customer bartered Settels for one of her necklaces,
offering four matching antique chairs in exchange. The result
is a setting that feels more like a home than a business.
“Since I arrived in San
Francisco, I wanted a salon like the French,” says Settels,
who moved to the United States from Mexico eight years ago.
“Perhaps in this environment the salon will become a reality,
for conversation and a good time.”
Starting on Nov. 5, Settels will
share her space with another creative endeavor, a knitting
workshop. Sue Appelbaum, the former manager of Noe Knits, will
teach “Knit-a-Long,” a three-week series on Saturday mornings
from 9 to 11. The class costs $60 plus materials. (For
reservations or information, call 415-821–9979.)
Settels also plans to feature
more work by other jewelry designers and artists.
In addition to selling jewelry
and accessories, Settels offers a watch repair service
operated by her husband. “Every day, people come in for
jewelry repair and watch repair and watch battery
replacement,” says Settels, who does custom jewelry work and
repairs as well. “You get to use the piece of jewelry you love
or the watch you love that’s been in the drawer for five
years.”
Hours at Raquel Settels
Metalsmith are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday.
Nate
Scharton, Ana Rosario, and Amy Edberg run the new branch
of First American Title Insurance on Castro Street.Photo by Pamela Gerard
First American Title Insurance
Company
1354 Castro Street near Jersey Street
415-671-4864 www.firstamericantitle.com
On the corner of Castro and
Jersey streets sits Noe Valley’s newest addition to the world
of real estate services, First American Title.
The Noe Valley branch of this
international company specializes in title insurance for
homeowners, buyers, sellers, and developers. It also offers
settlement services, commonly known as escrow services. “We’re
a neutral third party in a real estate transaction,” says Nate
Scharton, branch manager and senior escrow officer.
“Almost every type of
transaction these days requires some type of title insurance
and escrow services,” says Scharton. “People won’t write a
check to each other to buy a piece of property anymore. In the
early 1800s, you would just write a check to someone and they
would just sign over the deed. You didn’t know if there were
any claims or stakes laid to that.”
Scharton explains that as title
insurers they do comprehensive searches to ensure that when a
person purchases a piece of property he or she actually owns
it.
Along with his fellow escrow
officers—Ana Rosario and Amy Edberg—Scharton works with local
banks, real estate agents, and property owners of all kinds.
“We wanted to open in Noe Valley to service our clients in the
city and our clientele in this area,” says Scharton, who
opened the branch Aug. 2. “We felt there was a need in this
area. Other title companies have closed down.”
Since the cost of title
insurance is based on a property’s sales price and the rates
are posted with the State of California, title companies need
a way to distinguish themselves from one another. “We’re a
very customer service oriented branch,” says Scharton,
pointing out that his office offers after-hours and weekend
document signings. “We’ll send someone to your home after
hours.”
Located in the former home of
Michelle’s Tailor (which moved next door), First American
Title features a sunny glassed-in conference room, a work area
for each escrow officer, and a glassed-in office for Scharton.
“I really didn’t want an office. I like to be in the mix
of everything,” he says.
He hopes First American’s small
boutique office will be welcoming to visitors. “That’s why I
like to have the door open. To have the blinds open. It’s
inviting.”
First American Title is open
Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
