Community celebrates life of Westwood jewelry store owner
Muriel Chastanet, who died last November, is remembered for creating handmade jewelry at her store in Westwood Village. (Courtesy of Charlotte Chastanet)
By Roberto Luna Jr.
Jan. 15, 2016 1:05 a.m.
Behind the counter of her small store, Muriel Chastanet created handmade jewelry inspired by her travels abroad.
“From every angle, her jewelry was beautiful and mindful,” said Charlotte Chastanet, Muriel Chastanet’s daughter. “Muriel and her store brought something unique to Westwood Village.”
Chastanet, who founded Muriel Chastanet Fine Jewelry Studio on Glendon Avenue nearly 52 years ago, died in November. She was 81 years old.
Charlotte Chastanet said her mother was born into a family of jewelers. After she emigrated from France to the United States, she became an apprentice and learned to hand-make jewelry through a technique called lost-wax casting. The technique involves creating pieces of jewelry from wax models.
In the 1960s, Chastanet decided to open a jewelry store in Los Angeles, Charlotte Chastanet said. Gizelle Strohkendl, Chastanet’s other daughter, said her mother chose to open the store in Westwood Village because she liked its charm and wanted to be close to UCLA.
“It was her dream job,” Charlotte Chastanet said. “You could tell everything she did was with love.”
Chastanet’s daughters also said they thought she was a great mother who always reminded them to be kind and do the right thing. They said they felt lucky to work alongside their mother and watch her doing the thing she loved the most.
Strohkendl said her mother was well-respected and always kind to people. Charlotte Chastanet added her mother had many returning customers because she paid attention to her them, to the kinds of jewelry they wanted as well as to their personal issues.
Charlotte Chastanet added her mother’s customers always walked out of the store with something they loved, even if they didn’t know what they wanted when they came in.
UCLA alumna Willette Murphy Klausner said she visited Muriel Chastanet Fine Jewelry Studio about 50 years ago when she was shopping for a wedding band. She said Chastanet helped her choose a wedding band and even convinced her husband-to-be to get one as well.
“We were very picky,” Murphy Klausner said. “But she was just wonderful. After a couple of hours, I found the band that I wanted.”
Steve Sann, chair of the Westwood Community Council, said he had known Chastanet for more than 20 years. He said he would always see something new whenever he visited her store because Chastanet made a wide selection of jewelry.
Chastanet’s daughters held a memorial for their mother on Dec. 27. They invited some of their family, friends and clients, who spoke about the memories they made with her and how special she was.
Strohkendl said most of the attendees wore the jewelry her mother had made for them over the years.
Chastanet is survived by her daughters Charlotte Chastanet and Strohkendl, and her son Andre Hoffmann. Chastanet’s daughters said they will continue to run their mother’s store and try to maintain the legacy their mother left behind.
“Right here, we feel like we’re surrounded by her,” Strohkendl said.
