, Vintage Jewelry, Estate Jewelry, Antique Jewelry - Part 2 antique-estate-jewelry

The New Haven Clock Company

December 14, 2011

The New Haven Clock Company was founded on February 7, 1853 by Hiram Camp. The company supplied clock movements to the Jerome Manufacturing Company. Jerome went bankrupt three years later but the company purchased Jerome Manufacturing with $20,000 dollars. By 1860, the company employed 315 people and produced 170,000 clocks that year. In 1866, Jerome [...]

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Breitling Company History

December 14, 2011

Leon Breitling founded the Breitling Company in 1884 in St. Imer, Switzerland and in 1892, relocated to La Chaux-de-Fonds. In 1914, Leon Breitling’s son, Gaston, takes over the company business at his father’s death. In 1915, Gaston Breitling creates the first chronograph wrist watch and gives it to pilots with “their first wrist instruments”. In [...]

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The Tag Heuer Company

December 9, 2011

The Uhrenmanufaktur Heuer AG was founded in 1860 by Edouard Heuer. His workshop in the Swiss Jura Switzerland region opened that year. The Uhrenmanufaktur Heuer Company found a niche for itself by producing high quality precision watches perfect for timing sporting events. They produced stopwatches and water resistant watches. Heuer is known for timing sporting [...]

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Elgin National Watch Company History

December 9, 2011

The Elgin Company was founded on April 25, 1865. The first officers were Benjamin Raymond, President Philo Carpenter, Vice President Thomas Dickerson, Treasurer and George Wheeler, Secretary. The first movement was produced from the factory on April 1, 1867. It was during that time that watches took six months to complete. That first watch, the [...]

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Freshwater Pearls

December 9, 2011

Natural freshwater pearls occur in mussels just as saltwater pearls occur in oysters. A foreign object enters or is entered into a mussel and is not expelled creating a cultured freshwater pearl. The irritant is covered with nacre. Japan cultured the first freshwater pearls with freshwater mussels. They were the first to culture pearls in [...]

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The Royal Asscher Diamond Company

December 9, 2011

I.J. Asscher Diamond Company, named after son Isaac Joseph Asscher, was founded in 1854 by the Asscher family. The company has cut some of the most famous diamonds such as the 997 ct. Excelsior diamond in 1903 and the 3,106 ct. Cullinan diamond, the largest diamond ever found, in 1907. The headquarters was located at [...]

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History of the Tolkowski Family

December 9, 2011

In the 1800’s, Adam Tolkowski experimented with cutting colored stones and in 1840, together with his family, moved to Antwerp. Maurice Tolkowski, son of Abraham Tolkowski became well-known in the business. In 1898, Marcel Tolkowski was born to Isadore Tolkowski as a sixth generation diamond cutter. He later became known as the “father of the [...]

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Lazare Kaplan International Inc.

December 9, 2011

Founded in 1903 by Lazare Kaplan in Antwrep, Belgium, Lazare Kaplan International is the largest manufacturer of diamonds in the United States. The Kaplan family has a long history in the jewelry industry. His great-grandfather was once a jeweler and watchmaker and his love of the business passed on to future generations. He apprenticed under [...]

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The History of Patek Philippe

December 9, 2011

On May 1, 1839, Antoni Patek, a businessman and Franciszek Czapek, a watchmaker founded Patek, Czapek & Cie. In 1844, Patek met Andrien Philippe in Paris. Philippe introduced the “stem winding and setting system by the crown”. The company manufactured the first keyless winding and hands setting watch. In 1845, Czapek decided to leave and [...]

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The History of Christie’s Auction House

December 9, 2011

James Christie held his first sale in London, England on December 5, 1766 and its earliest catalog dates back to that same year. From 1973 through 1999, Christie’s was a public company until it was purchased by a private owner, Francois Pinault. In 1987, Christie’s auctioned off the Bugatti Royale automobile for a world record [...]

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