NATIONAL JEWELER          27
difficult, but a select few have found the right balance.
Bill Boyajian knows the Clark family well.
Boyajian was the president of the Gemological 
Institute of America from 1986 to 2006 and 
has since started a consulting firm, Bill Boy-
ajian & Associates, that helps family-owned 
jewelers with succession planning, among 
other challenges. He’s also authored a book 
on the topic, “Family Business Succession 
Planning: The Last Piece in Your Company 
Transition.” 
He first met Jim, a former member of 
GIA’s board of governors, in 1986, and has 
kept in touch over the years. He has worked 
with BC Clark Jewelers in an advisory role 
for the past eight years.
“It’s the finest family I know in the busi-
ness as far as congeniality, cooperation, and 
collegiality,” Boyajian says.
The “boys,” meaning Coleman and 
Mitchell, are like their dad, he says: reserved 
and modest with Southern manners. 
He describes Coleman as an introvert 
and a reflective thinker with a dry sense of 
humor.
“He’s probably a very good poker player 
because he doesn’t show his cards,” Boyajian says.
Mitchell has a similar personality, he says, and is a quiet and con-
templative man.
“They’re intense as marketers and businesspeople, but they’re 
very low key and extraordinarily patient,” Boyajian says. “It’s a phenom-
enal family and I credit Jim for a lot of that.”
Jim describes his sons as confident and bright, 
laid-back, and good with people, while Coleman says 
his father is a humble man whose character has influ-
enced both him and Mitchell.
“[Our dad] has a real humility about him 
that everyone sees and it can’t help but to 
bleed into what we do and how we act,” 
Coleman says.
The Clark brothers and their father work 
as a cohesive unit.
“We have always been very fortunate that 
we all—my brother, my father, and I—nor-
mally see eye-to-eye on things and we work 
together closely with the team. We really 
make all decisions regarding the business 
together,” Mitchell says. “We’ve been very 
fortunate that we all have the same mindset 
and the same vision.”
Jim says Coleman and Mitchell have 
“always enjoyed each other’s [company] 
and there was never any real competition 
between them. They’re just a great team and 
they’ve continued to be.”
Their father, Jim, and grandfather, B.C. 
Jr., set an example early on of how to best 
cooperate and collaborate.
“Seeing them together, how they worked together, and seeing 
their values and how they always had a servant attitude toward our 
employees and our vendors and certainly our customers [was] just a 
great example to us,” Coleman says.
Jim encouraged them to get involved in activities outside the 
store, from volunteer opportunities to civic clubs to industry 
The downtown BC Clark 
Jewelers store is home 
base for Coleman and 
Mitchell Clark, and their 
dad, Jim Clark.
“They’re intense 
as marketers and 
businesspeople, but they’re 
very low key and 
extraor­dinarily patient. 
It’s a phenomenal family and 
I credit Jim for a lot of that.”
–Bill Boyajian,  
Bill Boyajian & Associates
COLEMAN AND 
MITCHELL CLARK
2026
Inductees

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