Page 51 - SLO Visitors Guide Fall-Holiday 2026

slovisitorsguide.com FALL / HOLIDAY 2026 51
Morro Bay
The ONLY Bead &
Garden Shop on the
Central Coast.
Everything you need to bead, as well
as air plants, succulents, miniatures
& unique global garden art.
Open every day except Tuesdays.
333 Morro Bay Blvd.,
Morro Bay, CA
805.772.3338
morrobaybeads.com
Certified Master Jeweler Ali Atari at work.
Experience a master jeweler’s
timeless craft at Morro Bay Jewelry
Morro Bay Jewelers has a new
owner, but Certified Master
Jeweler Ali Athari is not new to
jewelry; he started at 9 years old in
Iran in 1954. He still crafts every-
thing by hand and is teaching the
next generation just like his family
taught him.
“My father, my grandfather,
and my great-grandfather were
all jewelers,” Athari said. He has
been crafting jewelry and repair-
ing clocks and watches for over 70
years.
After coming to the United
States in 1964 as a student, he
became a jeweler to the stars
while working in Beverly Hills
on Rodeo Drive in the late 1960s
and early 1970s. There, he created
custom jewelry for Liberace, Farrah
Fawcett, Cybill Shepherd, Christie
Brinkley, and Dick Van Dyke. "Dick
Van Dyke was a gentleman," Athari
said. "I made a ton of stuff for
Liberace." He also spent a decade
in Las Vegas. Again, his client list
reads like a who’s who with clients
like Siegfried and Roy, the gover-
nor, and many senators.
Handcrafted
traditions and old-
world mentoring
live on
After leaving Las Vegas for
San Luis Obispo, he opened a
store that focused increasingly
on watch repair, changing to
jewelry after the 2008 recession.
“I’ve been repairing watches and
jewelry all my life," Athari said.
"I specialize in being all-around.
I don't separate gold work, plati-
num work, watches, or clocks. It's
all precision work."
That philosophy reflects
the traditions of old European
jewelry workshops, where arti-
sans once crafted jewelry, watch
movements, watch cases, and cut