Our Story
The beginning
In the early 1970s, a young mother stepped onto American soil with her little daughter in hand and a heart still tethered to the Philippines. Her name was Zeny, and what she missed most was not a place, but a voice—her mother’s—half a world away.
International phone calls were a luxury she couldn’t yet afford, so Zeny took an office job along Wilshire Boulevard, just minutes from Beverly Hills. It was there, between long days of work and quiet moments of longing, that she wandered into a small jewelry store—unaware that a single decision would alter the course of her life.
That day, she bought her first piece of jewelry: an anklet. Before the sun set, a coworker noticed it, admired it, and asked to buy it on the spot.
Zeny returned to the shop again, and again—each time choosing something for herself, each time parting with it as strangers stopped her, drawn to what she wore. Without intending to, she had discovered something rare: an instinct for beauty that others immediately recognized.
What began as a simple purchase became a lifelong love affair with jewelry—one rooted in connection, resilience, and the quiet power of adornment.
On the Corner of Oakland & Murphy
By 1990, that instinct had grown into a devoted clientele spanning California, Texas, Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, and New York. Still, Zeny built her jewelry business in the margins of her life—after hours, between responsibilities—while working at IBM, where she met the man who would become the love of her life, Fred Keen.
When they decided to marry, it was Fred who saw what Zeny had always carried within her. He encouraged her to take the leap—to give her passion a home of its own.
She did.
Zeny opened her first jewelry store - calling it Zeny Rodil Jewelry - on the corner of Oakland Road and Murphy Avenue in San Jose, California. From that single storefront—and later a second location in San Bruno—her business became a trusted name throughout the Bay Area. As Silicon Valley began to rise, so did a new generation of women in technology, and Zeny was there to mark their milestones: first jobs, promotions, celebrations, and self-made successes.
Together, Fred and Zeny worked tirelessly, traveling, sourcing, and curating the latest designs in fine jewelry—always guided by craftsmanship, elegance, and an understanding that jewelry is never just an accessory. It is a companion to a woman’s journey.
What started as longing became purpose. What began with one piece became a legacy—passed from hand to hand, story to story, generation to generation.
Oak & Murphy
That same jewelry store became my childhood. It was where I grew up—among showcases and sketches, diamonds catching the light, and conversations that marked life’s most meaningful moments. My parents taught me not only the craft of fine jewelry and the language of diamonds and gemstones, but something far more lasting: that jewelry holds emotion. It carries love, ambition, remembrance, and celebration. It becomes part of our stories.
I watched pieces leave our hands and enter lives—marking engagements and anniversaries, personal victories and quiet triumphs. I learned that jewelry is not about sparkle alone, but about meaning.
Today, it is the honor of my lifetime to carry this legacy forward with Oak & Murphy. Rooted in the same values of craftsmanship, integrity, and connection, we are creating jewelry for a new generation—women who choose their own milestones and celebrate them on their own terms.
What began decades ago with one woman, one instinct, and one piece of jewelry continues now—reimagined, but unchanged in spirit. Because the most beautiful jewelry has always been about more than adornment.
It has always been about life.
