At 45, the Medawar Family Looks Back at a Business Built on Passion, Sacrifice and Hard Work

When Medawar Fine Jewelers opened in Rolling Hills Estates in 1980, it marked the beginning of a new chapter in Robert Medawar’s culturally rich family legacy. The hands of time have since turned for 45 years. While the business has prospered with traditional family values as its mainstay, the Palos Verdes Peninsula has gained a stalwart steward of the community.  

Robert’s intriguing family story began in his faraway homeland on the eastern seaboard of the Mediterranean Sea. His grandfather, Chakib, was born in 1912 in southern Lebanon, with hard work at the heart of his upbringing. 

Farm chores were not enough to satisfy his young, inquisitive mind. His fascination with mechanical things led to Chakib fixing villagers’ broken watches under a fig tree in the mountains. The self-taught watchmaker married and started a family with his wife, Asmah, before they moved to Beirut to open a small watch shop. Chakib easily made friends in town and was so highly regarded for his horology skills that even the archbishop asked him to repair his own watch. 

“My grandfather’s immense discipline and his unwavering passion made him one of the most sought-after watchmakers in Lebanon,” shares Robert.

Chakib’s eldest son, Michel, later followed in his footsteps, beginning with apprenticing in the shop after school. With encouragement from his esteemed father, he eventually opened his own store while also managing the flagship store. 

Michel married his sweetheart, Yolla, and they had four children: Robert, Joanna, Joseph and Roy. Driven by the same passion as his father, the love of family and a commitment to excellence, he added four jewelry stores and two clock manufacturing companies to the original two stores. 

Business was flourishing when the Lebanese Civil War began in 1975. Michel was concerned about his family’s well-being and set his sights on the U.S. as a safe haven. One of his brothers, who had already immigrated to America, arranged for the family to visit him in the South Bay for Christmas that year. A car ride through Palos Verdes changed the course of the family’s life. 

“We stopped to take a scenic photo on Hawthorne Boulevard, and my father said, ‘If we ever move to the States, this is where we are going to live!’” recalls Robert. 

The Medawars returned to unrest in Lebanon after the holidays. They soon left everything behind except the clothes in their suitcases to wait out the war in California. Over the course of two years, they traveled back and forth between the Middle East and the U.S. with great hope for peace. 

By 1977 Michel had resettled his family in Palos Verdes. In keeping with tradition, he wanted Robert (the oldest of his children) to carry on the family business and insisted that he attend the Société Suisse pour l’Industrie Horlogère (Swiss Society for the Watch Industry) in Switzerland. Robert graduated in April 1978 and returned to the South Bay. He worked as an apprentice watchmaker at a local jewelry store before opening his own store on Deep Valley Drive in 1980. 

In 1985 Robert met his wife, Sheila, in church. She started working for him as a bookkeeper, and they married two years later. In 1992 they moved the store to its first Silver Spur Road location before building the current store in 2008. Today, as always, visitors are welcomed with an inviting warmth that one would expect in the home of a friend.  

When asked how the Medawar legacy has endured war, immigrating to the U.S. and the test of time, Robert says, “We build relationships; we don’t just sell jewelry. Our father brought us from a war-torn country to California, where we were free to practice our Christian faith in our day-to-day life, with the store as a platform for us to give back.”

And give back they certainly do. The Medawars’ philanthropic contributions support local churches, synagogues, schools and the Drug Enforcement Agency’s Survivors Benefit Fund. Robert serves on the city of Rolling Hills Estates’ planning commission, has chaired the Palos Verdes Chamber of Commerce, has presided over the Kiwanis Club, is an active reservist police officer and sits on various boards. In 2024 he was named Citizen of the Year by the Chamber.  

Robert and Sheila continue to run the business together, offering distinctive jewelry from their buying trips around the world and specializing in unique bridal designs. Robert’s 90-year-old father can often be found at the store restoring clocks, and their two daughters have also worked with them—Rachelle as a jewelry designer and Rebekah as an office assistant.

Says Robert, “Our family is blessed to be able to work together doing what we love every day in our beloved community.”