Brian Toone has been around diamonds and other fine jewelry for much of his life, first introduced to the business by his dad during his early years in Spokane, Wash., and then picking up where he left off immediately after finishing his education and football career at The University of Montana in spring 1997.
Toone and his wife, Beth, headed for Spokane right after graduation to reconnect with his father’s business, and they now own the Jewelry Design Center in a much larger facility downtown. His dad had started the business in 1977.
“We design and manufacture jewelry and do diamond engagement rings and watches and all sorts of stuff,” Toone explained. Even though he had thought about doing a number of things after college it didn’t take long to realize the jewelry business was where his heart was. He has been able to make good use of his UM business administration degree there.He had worked for his dad during college summers, designing some jewelry and learning the ropes. During the summer of 1995, Toone recalled designing a ring for a woman. He thought it was pretty good, and as it turned out, she did, too. “When I showed it to her she went into tears,” Toone recalled, “and I thought, ‘Wow, this is a pretty cool design,’ but to her it meant so much more. It felt pretty good to be part of something in somebody’s life that meant that much to them.
“And that was what hooked me.”
Despite being a hard-nosed defensive player out of Butte High School Toone isn’t immune to showing emotion. He proved it when recently he watched a tape of his proposal to Beth on the 50-yard line at Washington-Grizzly Stadium. “I had some tears,” Toone confessed. “My youngest daughter said, ‘Dad, you’re crying!’ Getting engaged is a pretty awesome thing.” While he was in college the center was as a custom design shop with 10 employees, four of them jewelers, including his father. The jewelers would wait on customers, find out what they were looking for, and go to work designing something for them. To prepare himself for future changes in the business, Toone took courses from the Gemological Institute of America, training in diamonds and diamond grading, gem stones and pearls.
... Toone’s active playing days at Montana probably covered the four most productive years in modern Grizzly football history. Those teams won 48 and lost 8, went 9-3 in the playoffs, won the 1995 national title, and finished second in 1996. “A really, really special group of guys,” Toone summarized. “There’s a brotherhood there that you can’t quite explain, and I haven’t yet found it outside of the football arena. The blood and the sweat that you go through with those guys, and it was just a real special group. When we come back and see ‘em the emotions are still there.”
Losses to Delaware and Youngstown State in the 1993 and 1994 playoffs helped the Griz realize they could make a title run and how amazing it would be to capture the first national crown for the school. “That’s what we wanted and we weren’t going to settle for anything less,” Toone said. “I can’t even explain that feeling after you go through a season like that, and that last game. There was not a dry eye at the end of that last game at Marshall.” Longtime friends and college roommates Toone and Riley had a magical moment during the title win at Marshall in 1995, converging on the quarterback for a safety that ended up being the margin of victory in the 22-20 win. It struck Toone later that it had to be harder for the fans to watch the game than it was for the players to be in it and on the sidelines. “When you’re down in your three-point stance, you don’t have time to think about the pressure that you’re under,” Toone said. “You just know you have a job to get done and you’re gonna lay it all out there to make sure it happens.”
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