Butler jeweler starts YouTube channel to tell the stories of his customers
People appreciate stories they can relate to, and since 2022, Zach Emigh of Emigh Jewelry Co. has been able to use his role with his father’s business to do just that.
Emigh’s YouTube channel, @zachemighjewelry, has, as of Friday, June 21, reached more than 268,000 subscribers. The origin of the channel, according to Emigh, can be traced back to an instance when a customer had a ring destroyed following a bee sting.
“A gentleman had a ring on his finger and he got stung by a bee on his ring finger,” Emigh said. “It swelled up, got big and nasty looking. The ring got stuck on his finger and when he went to the emergency room, they had to remove it.”
After the ring was removed, it was in need of some repair, and that was when the customer came to Emigh to see what he could do about it.
The customer then showed Emigh some photos from his hospital visit.
“When he told me this, I thought it was a really interesting story, I kind of want to share it. It really resonated with a lot of people. It had about 30 million views across the internet. People enjoy hearing the background story of these projects. Then that opened my eyes to doing more of those videos.”
Before the bee sting video, Emigh said he was posting only images such as before and after photos from projects he had been working on.
His videos still accomplish the before-and-after concept, but he now goes more in depth with what went on during the repair process and why he is doing the repair in the first place.
“It's been an evolving thing,” Emigh said. “On the YouTube channel I do longer format videos that can range from six minutes to 15 minutes long. Those are way more in depth as far as going into the process of producing the product.”
In addition to YouTube, Emigh said he produces video content for most of the main social media platforms, including Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, all of which can be found by the handle @zachemighjewelry he said.
Editing videos is the hardest part of the process Emigh said, but the channel has grown so much recently that he was able to hire an editor.
“That has freed up time for me to create more content,” Emigh said.
Emigh said he is able to make about four or five videos a week and, as of now, he won’t be running out of video ideas anytime soon as he receives about a dozen inquires each day from customers who want to share their story.
Some of his other videos include stories from customers who inherited a few pieces of jewelry from a loved one, and would like to turn them into something different, as well as the process behind making brand new custom-designed jewelry, such as engagement rings.
Emigh’s father, Bob, founded the business in 1997 on Main Street in Butler, but has been at 540 Butler Crossing, Suite #7, since 2016.
“The business is just really different than it used to be,” Bob Emigh said. “It used to be totally brink and mortar. A lot of people come in because of it (the channel). We have even thought about a second location if it seems like a sensible thing to do.”
Zach Emigh is a graduate of Butler High School, and following his graduation he joined the United States Marine Corps in 2011.
After one combat tour in Afghanistan, he returned home and then went to the Gemological Institute of America in Carlsbad, Calif., and graduated in 2015.
“That's where you learn the foundation of things,” Emigh said. “The basics of stone setting and ring sizing.”
What he said he finds the most rewarding about what he does is the reaction he gets from customers when he shows them the final product, which is something he is looking to incorporate more into his videos.
“I’m always experimenting with things,” he said. “One thing I’m thinking of incorporating is not only telling the story, but involving the person receiving the item to see them tell their story. Also to see their reaction at the end.”
Starting a YouTube channel is often easy, but creating a successful YouTube channel is something completely different, which is something he had to learn.
“You have to never give up,” Emigh said. “I think so many people start and they don’t see it take off initially and they quit early. Just experiment with things and keep things relevant with as many people as possible. Don’t be so niche, that way you get more and more people to watch.”
