HI Jewelers Restoring Items Damaged by Wildfire

KAHULUI—Four months after the fires in Lahaina and Kula, so much devastation remains, but out of the ashes small glimmers of hope are emerging thanks to one small Kahului business, No Ka 'Oi Jewelers, and the large hearts of its owners.

Omi Chamdi and his wife, Ayelet, knew they could not remove the scars from the hearts of fire survivors, but they could use their skills and connections to help start the healing process by bringing some of their damaged jewelry back to life.

The Chamdis opened No Ka 'Oi Jewelers at 340 Hana Highway, Unit E, about three years ago, but Omi Chamdi has been in the wholesale jewelry business for three decades—a career that required constant travel to the mainland and globally. When the Maui wildfires broke out and the couple were searching for a way to help their community, he recalled a jeweler friend in Chico, Calif., who was restoring jewelry found in wildfires.

The couple posted an invitation on Facebook to restore up to two pieces of burned jewelry free per Maui wildfire survivor. The couple quickly found themselves with some 500 pieces to restore and are still taking more.

"We know that behind every piece of jewelry is an amazing story, " Chamdi said, adding that jewelry is often given to mark special occasions or honor special people.

His wife nodded and said, "The person behind every piece of jewelry is so important."

The emotional ties that jewelry invoke were made clear as the Honolulu Star-Advertiser watched the Chamdis run their business over a normal December day. Customers were stopping by to shop for Christmas gifts, custom-design engagement rings and pick up jewelry that had been made new after the fire.

Irving Fujii was all smiles and a few tears when he stopped by the store to pick up a restored Hawaiian bracelet that belongs to his 92-year-old mother, Sadae Fujii.

"I can't believe it, " Fujii said. "It doesn't look like what I brought in. It was so skinny and burnt. It looks so much bigger now."

Omi Chamdi said he was pleased with the outcome of Fujii's Hawaiian bracelet, an expensive heirloom that now shines brightly and is devoid of any melted spots or black discoloration.

He said Na Ka 'Oi Jewelers and their team cannot restore every piece. Pearls and softer stones like opals and costume jewelry typically will not last. But they have had success restoring blackened precious metals and the harder ash-smoked stones, especially diamonds. They work with survivors to salvage what they can.

Shelly Romo is holding on tight to the diamond solitaire wedding ring that the Chamdis restored after the home that she and her husband, Russell Romo, were renting was lost in the fire. The rental had been next door to Russell Romo's childhood home. Before the family home burned down, the Romo family had lived in Lahaina for more than 50 years.

The family is now living in Upcountry Maui, though their 16-year-old son, Alex, attends Lahainaluna High School.

"Our home will never be the same. That's why it was the happiest moment when the ring was found, because it is based on the life our family has built, " Shelly Romo said. "My ring went through this horrific storm. It's a symbol that our family was spared and our family will get through this storm as well."

Susan Fares said she is grateful to the Chamdis for restoring the David Yurman bracelet that her now-deceased sister, Toni Racioppo, had given her one Christmas. Fares said the bracelet was pulled from the ashes of the fire along with a heart locket that held the ashes of her 28-year-old son, Kevin Kurisko, who died on March 7, 2013.

"I wore the locket every day until the 10th anniversary of his death. I said, 'It's time to put it down.' That's why I didn't have it on me the day that we escaped from the fire, " she said.

Fares said the workforce housing home that she bought in 2020 with her daughter, Amy Chadwick, was destroyed, although all of the occupants, who also included son-in-law Bruce Chadwick and grandchildren Elli and Cavin, survived.

The Chamdis weren't able to fix the stainless-steel locket, but Fares said she is still glad that it was found.

"Finding the necklace and the bracelet meant so much to me, " she said. "It returned a precious past to me. I lost all my photographs. I don't have any pictures of my babies, but I have these two pieces. They remind me that they are glimmers of hope and certainly things to look forward to."

The fire that destroyed the Wahikuli home that Michelle Quirk was renting also nearly took seven pieces of her cherished jewelry, including four heirloom pieces that were from various paternal and maternal great-grandmothers and grandmothers.

"It took multiple days of searching, but last week I finally found the seventh piece, " Quirk said. "It was almost like it was a gift from my grandma. I knew she was looking out for me."

Quirk said her outlook has changed since the Chamdis began restoration of a square cocktail ring with diamonds that had belonged to her maternal grandmother, Patricia Disano, and her great-grandmother Beatrice Gropper, and a similar one that was left to her by her paternal great-grandmother Mary Pratte.

"Before I found the rings, I wasn't talking much, " she said. "I didn't even have words to say to people. It's not my fault the rings were gone, but it was getting my life down. I'm still single, but one day I had wanted to carry on the tradition of passing them down. Definitely, finding them changed my attitude. It's the light in the darkness."

Omi Chamdi said the couple love being a part of helping those who were affected by the fires find something to hold onto, something that extends their legacy.

"After a disaster sometimes all you see is the black in front of you, " he said as he gazed at a row of burned jewelry about to be sent for repairs. "But once the jewelry goes through the process and is refurbished, the point of view changes. It's like hope is taking away some of the sadness."

The process also has been healing for the couple, who hail from Israel and were visiting family in Israel on Oct. 7 during the Hamas terrorist attack.

"We were stuck there when it happened. The only way that we got out was through the American Embassy, " Ayelet Chamdi said. " Israel is torn apart, and we don't know what to do. Nobody wins in a war."

She said the couple has continued to worry about their family in Israel, but restoring jewelry for Maui wildfire survivors has helped them to cope.

"It's a good feeling to do something good, " she said. "We are helping our community. I wish someone could do that in Israel, too."

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