Fincher & Ozment Jewelers

Shop for Your Ring on Your Terms  If you want to grab ten rings and try one on each finger to see which you like best, you should be able to do that – without having to ask a commissioned salesperson for help. Plus, there should be a price on each ring so you know how much everything costs. And since you are going to wear your ring forever as a symbol of your love, it should be made especially for you. Yours should be the only finger it has ever been on. Want to know more? It’s called the Love & Affection Collection, and it is a whole new way to shop for your engagement, wedding and anniversary rings. Why Fincher & Ozment?  There are plenty of places to go for jewelry. Here are 10 reasons why Fincher & Ozment should be one of them:   Your ring is made especially for you using your style and budget specifications in 10 days or less. You get to see West Alabama’s biggest engagement ring selection. You will find the latest collections from leading designers like Simon G, Bridal Bells and our exclusive Love & Affection Collection. No pricing games. The price on the tag is the real price. Your diamond is backed by a Diamond Grading Guarantee. You can trade up your original Fincher & Ozment diamond at any time. Tuscaloosa has been coming here for their jewelry needs for over 100 years. We love ‘Bama, know jewelry and don’t take ourselves too seriously. Find out more about us and our values. We are direct diamond importers. What does this mean? Price matters. You won’t find a lower price on the same diamond elsewhere.

And what if I do? A Family Business A Family Business  From Truman to Tom to Tommy to Tom Jr. & Cecil. Though the baton has been passed on a number of occasions, Fincher & Ozment has always maintained strong relationships with the finest suppliers and long-term relationships with their customers. These relationships have given our business a great advantage – the best of merchandise and the best of customers. We still have families with us from the old days – some who call, tell us the occasion and ask us to choose the gifts. It is trust, built on old fashioned service.   Why We Do It  As Tommy Ozment once said, “We like the emotional part best – making people happy, sometimes keeping them happy. It is an enjoyable people oriented business, one of the very few full service, customer assisted businesses remaining. I don’t know any other I would like as much.”  Schedule an appointment to meet one-on-one with a  professional diamond consultant.  

The Fincher & Ozment Story  In 1904, The Tuscaloosa Times Gazette spoke of Roosevelt and the Monroe Doctrine, French unfriendliness, anti-trust issues, lynchings in Virginia and Mississippi, political battles and train collisions. It mourned leading citizens with great sensitivity. It told of an expedition to Alaska, riots in Poland and the cannonization of Saint Joan of Arc. It advertised corsets and caskets, shoes and fertilizer, hats and train trips. And among all the local events, one might have noticed the opening of a new jewelry store, Fincher & Ozment Jewelry Co. on Sixth Street, in the heart of downtown.  It all came about when Dr. Thomas Jefferson Ozment, a horse and buggy medical doctor, gave his son Truman, an accomplished engraver working for two local jewelry stores at the time, a thousand dollars to start his own business. Truman approached his brother- in-law, William H. Fincher, with the opportunity. Fincher, who had a grocery store, disposed of his holdings and a partnership was formed. William H. Fincher handled the bookkeeping and Truman Ozment handled merchandising, repair, and engraving.

 Those early customers loved the experience. The store was filled with exquisite cases of rich woods and curving glass, beautiful high wall cases with glass doors which slid upward as if by magic – bright gold, sparkling gems – gentlemen who prided themselves on artistry and quality, whose first concern was pleasing their customers.  The store relocated to 515 Greensboro in the early 1930’s. The Great Depression had descended on America and times were tough. People came to town on Saturday and the store stayed open until the last one left at night, usually around 9:00PM. In the absence of cash, customers paid on their account with commodities. You wouldn’t believe how many cans of syrup and bushels of produce were stored under the counters back in those days.  William H. Fincher passed away during this time. Truman Ozment’s son, Tom, borrowed what he could to buy some of William’s stock. The remainder was purchased by an employee.

That employee’s son, James, eventually became a partner, followed shortly by Tom’s son and Truman’s grandson, Tommy.  The business grew steadily throughout the 1960’s and 1970’s. Increased competition arrived in the form of the new McFarland Mall on the southern end of town. Then in 1980, University Mall opened, bringing four major anchors (Sears, Pizitz [now McRaes], J C Penny and Parisians) and 101 specialty stores. The number of jewelers doubled overnight. We considered moving into the Mall until our accountants told us our volume would have to increase more than $200,000 per year to maintain a profit. So we stayed put, which was probably the wisest decision Tommy every made.  On January 15, 1985, a “revitalization” of downtown Tuscaloosa began. A six-week project, they said. New sidewalks, flower beds, trees and a center median. But like all construction projects, unforeseen issues arose. New sewer lines, utilities and other concerns dragged things out. Customers had to navigate around 18 inches of freshly-poured concrete to get into our store.

There was no parking for two blocks. Volume plummeted for a while, but Fincher & Ozment held on and by the end of September the street was reopened for traffic.  Our oldest partner, James, decided to retire in the spring of 1988. A leverage buyout took place, Tommy Ozment assumed the debt and the store carried on. Then in October 2002, we moved into our current location in the Tuscaloosa Galleria. Some might say being in business for over one hundred years makes us old. We like to think it makes us the most experienced hometown jewelry store in Tuscaloosa.