With Valentine’s Day just days away, we went straight to the most tenured and trusted jeweler in the northwest Bronx, Allan Freilich, of Freilich Jewelers in Norwood, which opened in Norwood in 1939, to get some advice on buying the perfect gift for your special someone. Here are the highlights from our conversation.

What’s an “appropriate” Valentine’s gift?
As a traditional old-time jeweler, I believe your gift should be proportional to your relationship. If you met the young lady on Friday night and Valentine’s Day is the next Tuesday, a gift might be something slightly different than someone who is in a long-term relationship, married or otherwise. Now that’s appropriate behavior. Of course in today’s world, everything’s thrown to the wind.

How much should you spend?
That level of money has changed with our times. The reality of it is that, for many of us, times are tougher. So times have definitely changed. You can buy a lovely thing here for $20, no question about it. The real question is remembering and coming home with something, whatever it is. Yes, I would love for everyone to leave with a $5,000 item, but the realities are what they are.

Is it okay for women to buy jewelry for men?
Absolutely. There was a day many years ago when men didn’t wear much stuff, but that is not the case anymore. Men adorn just like the pirates in the old days.

Rings can be tricky
When you bring home a ring and it looks like an engagement ring you can get into some trouble if you’re not prepared for that. Most rings, of course, are not engagement rings, but if it even looks like one and the young person who’s getting it was looking for [an engagement ring], that could be less than shrewd — if you’re not prepared for that [kind of conversation]. It’s a delicate line.

Start with a heart
When you come to a jewelry store, you want to come out with a nice piece of jewelry. And the first thing I think of is a heart. It’s Valentine’s Day, I can’t help it. To me, there’s nothing more beautiful than a diamond heart. I would suggest a heart, of any sort. Then we decide on our budget and whether the heart should be in a ring or necklace or whatever.

A flowery alternative
To compete with the florists, we have something called a Forever Rose. It’s a lacquered rose that lasts forever. It’s lacquered and 24-Karat plated and it comes with sterling silver earrings and a box of hard chocolates. It’s a great deal at $99, considering a dozen roses may last you two, maybe three weeks.

Bottom line: It’s the thought!
It’s the thought, I think, that mostly counts, without the detail. The fact that you thought about it and remembered the day and that you came home with a gift. Even though it is required it is still nice that you went that extra mile and got that gift at whatever level you think is suitable.

—Interview by Alex Kratz