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Harvey Rovinsky, Longtime Owner of Bernie Robbins Jewelers, Dies at 77
Rovinsky is remembered as a great mentor who made the employees of his stores feel like family.
Harvey Rovinsky with his wife of 50-plus years, Maddy Rovinsky, in a picture submitted to National Jeweler when they were inducted into the Retailer Hall of Fame in 2022. Rovinsky died suddenly on Tuesday at age 77.
Mays Landing, N.J.—Former Bernie Robbins Jewelers owner and President Harvey Rovinsky, a jewelry industry leader who also was a husband, father, uncle, and “incredible” friend, died Tuesday following a cardiac event.
He was 77.
Born March 8, 1947, the Philadelphia native started working in his father’s watchmaking business when he was a child.
In 1966, Rovinsky was hired by a man named Bernie Rosenberg (better known as Bernie Robbins) who owned an appliance store in downtown Philadelphia that sold a little bit of jewelry.
Rosenberg was looking to change his business and brought a then 19-year-old Rovinsky on board to help with the transition.
A few years later, Rovinsky became family when he married Rosenberg’s daughter, Madalyn.
Over time, Harvey and Maddy Rovinsky turned what was once an appliance store that sold Timex watches into a luxury jeweler that carried brands like Rolex, Cartier, and David Yurman, and had as many as nine stores across New Jersey and Pennsylvania at one point.
Longtime store employee Steve Jaffe said Harvey could be tough but always was fair.
He said Harvey looked for the best in everyone, and he and Maddy made the employees of Bernie Robbins Jewelry feel like family.
“They don’t make people like this anymore,” Jaffe said.
In 2022, Harvey and Maddy were inducted into National Jeweler’s Retailer Hall of Fame in the Multi-Store Independent category. At the time, there were four Bernie Robbins Jewelers stores.
They retired in 2024 and gave the business, debt-free, to five longtime employees.
Today, Bernie Robbins Jewelers has two locations, one in Somers Point, New Jersey, and the other in Newtown, Pennsylvania.
Jaffe is one of the five employees who is now a co-owner of the business.
Speaking behalf of all five partners, he said, “There is a not a finer mentor, teacher, businessperson, friend and, just simply, great person than Harvey Rovinsky. He will be sorely missed.”
Outside of work, Harvey and Maddy supported Chabad at the Shore, the Sara & Sam Schoffer Holocaust Resource Center at Stockton University, Friends of the Israeli Defense Force, The Albert Einstein Society at Jefferson Einstein Philadelphia Hospital, and the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.
He served on the executive board of the Holocaust Resource Center.
Harvey is survived by his wife of 56 years, Madalyn; daughter Julia Rovinsky Rosenzweig (Adam Rosenzweig); granddaughters Sophia and Emma; sister-in-law Susan Stupine; and nieces and nephews Erika (Seth Yablonovitz), Jeffrey Stupine (Farah), Bailey and Jay Yablonovitz, and Lilly Stupine.
Services are scheduled to take place 2 p.m. Sunday at Joseph Levine & Sons Memorial Chapel, 4737 E. Street Road, Trevose, Pennsylvania.
For those unable to attend in person, the services will be livestreamed via the J.S. Goldstein Funeral Home website.
Burial will be private.
Contributions in Harvey’s memory may be made to Chabad at the Shore, the Sara & Sam Schoffer Holocaust Resource Center at Stockton University, the Friends of the Israeli Defense Force, or to the Albert Einstein Society at Jefferson Einstein Philadelphia Hospital.
He was 77.
Born March 8, 1947, the Philadelphia native started working in his father’s watchmaking business when he was a child.
In 1966, Rovinsky was hired by a man named Bernie Rosenberg (better known as Bernie Robbins) who owned an appliance store in downtown Philadelphia that sold a little bit of jewelry.
Rosenberg was looking to change his business and brought a then 19-year-old Rovinsky on board to help with the transition.
A few years later, Rovinsky became family when he married Rosenberg’s daughter, Madalyn.
Over time, Harvey and Maddy Rovinsky turned what was once an appliance store that sold Timex watches into a luxury jeweler that carried brands like Rolex, Cartier, and David Yurman, and had as many as nine stores across New Jersey and Pennsylvania at one point.
Longtime store employee Steve Jaffe said Harvey could be tough but always was fair.
He said Harvey looked for the best in everyone, and he and Maddy made the employees of Bernie Robbins Jewelry feel like family.
“They don’t make people like this anymore,” Jaffe said.
In 2022, Harvey and Maddy were inducted into National Jeweler’s Retailer Hall of Fame in the Multi-Store Independent category. At the time, there were four Bernie Robbins Jewelers stores.
They retired in 2024 and gave the business, debt-free, to five longtime employees.
Today, Bernie Robbins Jewelers has two locations, one in Somers Point, New Jersey, and the other in Newtown, Pennsylvania.
Jaffe is one of the five employees who is now a co-owner of the business.
Speaking behalf of all five partners, he said, “There is a not a finer mentor, teacher, businessperson, friend and, just simply, great person than Harvey Rovinsky. He will be sorely missed.”
Outside of work, Harvey and Maddy supported Chabad at the Shore, the Sara & Sam Schoffer Holocaust Resource Center at Stockton University, Friends of the Israeli Defense Force, The Albert Einstein Society at Jefferson Einstein Philadelphia Hospital, and the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.
He served on the executive board of the Holocaust Resource Center.
Harvey is survived by his wife of 56 years, Madalyn; daughter Julia Rovinsky Rosenzweig (Adam Rosenzweig); granddaughters Sophia and Emma; sister-in-law Susan Stupine; and nieces and nephews Erika (Seth Yablonovitz), Jeffrey Stupine (Farah), Bailey and Jay Yablonovitz, and Lilly Stupine.
Services are scheduled to take place 2 p.m. Sunday at Joseph Levine & Sons Memorial Chapel, 4737 E. Street Road, Trevose, Pennsylvania.
For those unable to attend in person, the services will be livestreamed via the J.S. Goldstein Funeral Home website.
Burial will be private.
Contributions in Harvey’s memory may be made to Chabad at the Shore, the Sara & Sam Schoffer Holocaust Resource Center at Stockton University, the Friends of the Israeli Defense Force, or to the Albert Einstein Society at Jefferson Einstein Philadelphia Hospital.
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