SIR JACQUES HENRI ADLER / 1916-2001

This favored jeweler
was a gem for Honolulu

His epic life saw him flee the Nazis
and build a successful life

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By Lisa Asato
lasato@starbulletin.com

Sir Jacques Henri Adler, who fled the Nazis during World War II and built a multimillion-dollar company dealing in diamonds, died Tuesday in a Denver hospice. He was 85.

A third-generation diamond merchant, Adler was well-known for his TV commercials in which he said: "If you aren't buying your diamonds from the House of Adler, you are paying too much!"

He built the House of Adler by selling watches, diamond rings and other jewelry to jewelry stores and post exchanges in the Pacific and West Coast, said Lee Yarbrough, a longtime friend, employee and consultant to Adler.

While based in Colorado Springs, Adler's store in the Broadmoor Hotel attracted celebrities such as Gary Cooper, Jack Benny and Clark Gable, Adler said.

He was born May 21, 1916, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, to a wealthy family. He learned the business from his father, Henri, who for a time was Belgium's largest diamond exporter.

Until the war, Adler divided his working time between diamonds and movies. He graded diamonds in the early morning when the light was good and spent his afternoons distributing movies to cinemas in Antwerp.

As a Jew fleeing Europe during World War II, Adler sailed to America from Switzerland on a borrowed passport.

At the age of 75, he dictated to a friend his memoirs, which was originally written in French and titled "La Joie de Vivre," or "The Joy of Living."

In 1955, Adler was knighted by King Leopold II of Belgium for organizing clothing donations to the Belgians after the war. He also served for years as the counselor of foreign trade to Belgium.

A citizen of the world, Adler had offices and homes in Honolulu and Denver and offices in Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, Korea and Antwerp, where he bought most of his diamonds and colored stones.

In 1945, Adler established a store in Hawaii. And later, when he moved the company's headquarters to Honolulu, Adler oversaw operations from his heavily secured office in the Pan Am Building.

Carole Brooks, a Honolulu Realtor who was a friend and colleague of Adler's for 25 years, said Adler was "truly passionate" about his work until the very end. "For him that was his life, that was his stimulation and challenge to sell somebody something pretty that they were going to love," she said. "Even (visiting Hawaii) on his deathbed six months ago he was still wanting to work."

"To some people diamonds are simply money, an investment like a stock certificate," he said. "But not me, I love diamonds."

Adler is survived by his wife, Suzanne; daughters Jacqueline Anthony and Maury Leacox of Colorado; four grandchildren, two great-grandchildren and three stepchildren.

Maury said services will be held in Denver on Friday at 1:30 p.m. at Temple Emanuel at 51 Grape St.

Memorials may be made to Hospice of Metro Denver at 425 S. Cherry St., Suite 700, Denver, CO 80246.