The jewelers' benches are still visible through the front windows at 1400 King Street, exactly where longtime customers expect to find them. But the business is identified as Gold Works of Alexandria, and the two men behind the counter, Adam Stayer and Daniel Mansour, are running a business that founder David Martin built over 36 years before stepping away.
Stayer and Mansour agreed to acquire Goldworks in December 2025 and formally took ownership in January 2026, according to The Zebra Press. The pair previously operated Belle View Jewelers, and they say they want the shop to keep serving the Old Town Alexandria community the way it always has, with customers welcome anytime for expert advice or a complimentary jewelry cleaning.
The connection between old and new ownership runs deeper than a single transaction. Martin got his start in the Alexandria jewelry trade back in 1983 at a co-op inside the Belle View Shopping Center, the very same shopping center where Stayer and Mansour later ran their own store, as Old Town Crier has reported. Mansour comes from a family of jewelers, and Stayer is an Army veteran, per the seed reporting on the transition.
Faster Rolex Turnaround, Same Storefront
One of the most tangible changes under the new ownership is speed. Goldworks now services Rolex watches in-house with an average turnaround of roughly five to seven days, rather than the months customers previously faced when timepieces had to be shipped to Dallas or Switzerland for factory service, or when Rolex owners traditionally traveled to Tysons for repairs. The shop also works on clocks and other mechanical timepieces, offers complete watch overhauls, and handles jewelry repair, restoration, and custom design, along with battery replacement.
Mansour brings watchmaking expertise focused on complete overhauls of mechanical and vintage pieces, while Stayer works as a luxury watch broker who helps clients acquire rare models without the usual waiting lists, according to Old Town Crier. All repair and restoration work continues to be performed completely in-house, the outlet reports, and the shop still keeps three visible in-house workstations along with an in-house watchmaker and expert jeweler. Goldworks also offers a limited selection of jewelry and watches for sale and services customers within 100 miles of its King Street location.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that employment of jewelers and precious stone and metal workers will decline 3 percent from 2025 to 2035, placing Goldworks' effort to maintain in-house repair skills within a broader industry trend. National May 2024 estimates from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics put reported annual wages for watch and clock repairers at $28,390, $43,660, $58,140, $68,340, and $79,150 across the listed wage percentiles.
Some things haven't changed at all. Stayer and Mansour say they intend to keep the visible workbenches and working jewelers in place, preserving the shop's neighborhood character rather than converting the space into a purely retail showroom. The business also offers a military discount, which the new owners may extend to grandchildren of military veterans.
The Man Who Helped Build Upper King Street
Understanding why the transition matters requires understanding what Martin built beyond the shop itself. When he scouted 1400 King Street in 1989 near the newly opened Metro station, the northwest block of Old Town Alexandria was mostly used car shops, old warehouses, and empty lots, according to reporting cited by ALXnow. Martin reportedly watched foot traffic on the doorstep over a full weekend before deciding to open his shop there in 1990, and the block eventually transformed into the bustling commercial corridor it is today.
Martin's fingerprints are on much of Old Town's physical streetscape. He led the former King Street Metro Enterprise Team and the Old Town Business Association in championing decorative banners along the corridor, launching the city's first banner program in July 2004, per The Zebra Press. He also lobbied alongside former City Council Member Del Pepper in 2016 to extend King Street's decorative tree lighting from five months to eight months and eventually to a year-round display, with Pepper calling the installations economic development lights that signal Old Town is open for business.
According to the City of Alexandria's Quarterly Capital Project Status Report, a temporary pedestrian plaza at the foot of King Street was completed in FY 2013, adding another pedestrian-focused change to the corridor since Goldworks opened. WMATA's FY2016 Approved Budget said that, as the Metro system expanded over the decades, it spurred over $235.0 billion of economic development at or adjacent to Metro property, providing broader context for the commercial significance of transit access.
Martin's civic ties extended into City Hall itself. He designed and partly funded the ceremonial medallion worn by Alexandria's mayor, a three-inch disc featuring the city seal, and gave it to former Mayor Bill Euille, who later passed it down to Mayor Justin Wilson, according to ALXnow's reporting. Before turning to gemology, Martin served three years in the U.S. Air Force as a clinical lab technologist during the Vietnam War and worked as a graphic illustrator in medical, historical, and architectural fields, a background that shaped his later work in miniature sculpting and gemstone inlaying.
The nonprofit Living Legends of Alexandria recognized Martin's community advocacy and business contributions with its Living Legend designation in 2013. Before selling the store, Martin had increased Goldworks' online activity; ALXnow also reported pandemic-related street closures and changing customer demographics.
What role, if any, Martin will play going forward remains unclear. It isn't yet known whether he'll stay on as an informal consultant to the shop he opened 36 years ago, and it's also uncertain exactly how the new watch-brokering and mechanical-overhaul services will reshape who walks through Goldworks' doors. For now, Stayer and Mansour say their goal is straightforward: revive the shop, reconnect with Alexandria, and honor the man whose name has been synonymous with King Street jewelry for decades.
