David Webb Inc., purveyor of 18-karat gold cuffs, exotic animal bracelets and baseball-size brooches, long the signature look of Houston’s Ladies Who Lunch, closes its doors in the Pavilion on Post Oak on June 27, The Houston Chronicle reports.

Letters of the closing and a special sale were received at tony addresses across the city earlier this month. In the brief note, customers were advised that David Webb business continues as usual at headquarters on New York’s Park Avenue and in the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills.

It was almost 26 years ago that Nina and Arnold Silberstein popped down from New York to open their first store in Houston, creating a stir that over the years resulted in a keen following.

Elyse Lanier was the first to manage David Webb interests here when they opened shop in 1975 in the River Oaks Bank Building. She is credited with establishing local popularity of the eye-catching jewelry by wearing different pieces to lunch every day at Tony’s, the favorite watering hole of those with enviable discretionary incomes.

In the process of promoting business, the Silbersteins became fixtures on the charity ball circuit, and the store’s annual holiday party was a not-to-be-missed event. Lanier and husband Bob hosted luncheons, dinners and champagne receptions for the couple, first in their River Oaks Boulevard home and then in their penthouse condo.

The store closing does not mean the end of the David Webb presence in Houston, according to president Stanley Silberstein.

“We’re not giving up on Houston. I think it will be more exciting for us to come down to do specific shows and trunk shows. Everything will be fresh. We’ll be able to bring new things and see everybody all at once,” he told the newspaper. “When we come down in the fall, and however often we do come down, it will be an event. And we’ll make it an event. We’ll do things to bring everybody in.”

Bob Bibb, who has managed the Post Oak store for more than 15 years, intends to keep a hand in the retail business.

JCK