Famous Jewelers

(1877 - 1932) Renowned nineteenth-century French jeweller and goldsmith. Louis Aucoc (1850-1932) came from a family of well-known goldsmiths.Vever,432. Vever mentions the Aucoc family throughout his book. Of particular interest, perhaps, is the fact that the...

Diamond Ring by Bailey, Banks & Biddle, c.1900. (1832 - present) The famous American jewelry firm from Philadelphia, Bailey, Banks and Biddle, first opened its doors as Bailey and Kitchen in 1832. Catering to modish Philadelphians, the firm sold...

Boucheron (1858 - present) Frederic Boucheron Before opening his own jewellery store in 1858, Frédéric Boucheron apprenticed at the fashionable Parisian jewellery house Deschamps. When Deschamps retired, he discouraged Frédéric from entering the jewellery trade,...

(1919 - present) Italian firm famous for its textural gold jewellery and exquisite silver objects. According to family history, the Buccellati's first foray into the jewellery trade was in the mid-eighteenth century when Contardo Buccellati worked as a goldsmith in...

(1810 - present) One of America’s oldest fine jewelers, Black, Starr and Frost traces its roots to 1810. In that year, Erastus Barton and Frederick Marquand opened Marquand and Barton near New York’s Maiden Lane. The firm added and lost partners numerous times. It...

(1837 - present) In 1837, Elijah Peacock opened Chicago’s first retail jewelry and watch shop. The store specialized in selling and repairing watches and also carried a small line of jewelry. Elijah taught the trade to his son, Charles, who later took over the...

Belais Manufacturing Co., founded by David Belais (1863 - June 5, 1933), was among the early manufacturers of white gold jewelry in the United States. During the late 19th and early 20th century, they experimented with various alloys for white gold as a substitute...

Gabrielle Bonheur ‘Coco’ Chanel’s inauspicious beginnings did not portend the impact she would have on the world of fashion. Her start in life was modest and at a young age, things took a turn for the worse when, upon her mother’s death, she and...

Edward C. Moore was the jewelry design director and head of the silver workshops at Tiffany & Co. from 1851 to 1891. Under Moore’s direction, the artists at Tiffany studied jewelry and objects from all over the world and many historical periods. He is credited...

Fabergé was a preeminent Russian jewelry firm famous for its objets d’art and, in particular, its enameling. The Fabergé family heritage hails to seventeenth-century France. Expelled from the region when Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes in 1685, the Fabergés...

Fabergé was a preeminent Russian jewelry firm famous for its objets d’art and, in particular, its enameling. The Fabergé family heritage hails to seventeenth-century France. Expelled from the region when Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes in 1685, the Fabergés...

French jeweller known for its Renaissance Revival and Art Nouveau work. In 1839, the firm’s founder, Alphonse Fouquet, entered the jewellery industry at the age of eleven, serving as an apprentice to Parisian jeweller Henri Meusnier. His mistreatment under Meusnier is...

The firm was founded at 31, quai des Bergues, Geneva in 1837 by Auguste Golay-Leresche, a clockmaker. The house was sold to Stahl around 1900 and the name became Golay Fils & Stahl. In the period from 1860 until 1930 there were two stores, the original in Geneva...

(c.1860 - 1914) Carlo Giuliano (1831-1895) was an Italian goldsmith who moved to London with his wife and two sons c.1860. He established a workshop in Frith Street where his predominantly revivalist jewelry was created. This location did not have a showroom,...

Lucerne, Switzerland, 1854, Jakob Josef Mauritz Breitschmid opens a watchmaker's shop. Jakob's apprentice, Eduard Jakob Gübelin, marries his daughter Bertha Breitschmid and in 1899 assumes command of the business. In 1919 the business passes to their son, Eduard...

John Brogden was an English goldsmith known for his ancient, Egyptian, and Renaissance revival designs. Brodgen worked in the Covent Garden area of London, first as Brogden and Garland (1826 to 1835). From 1842 to 1864 the firm at that address was listed as Watherston...

The firm was founded at 31, quai des Bergues, Geneva in 1837 by Auguste Golay-Leresche, a clockmaker. The house was sold to Stahl around 1900 and the name became Golay Fils & Stahl. In the period from 1860 until 1930 there were two stores, the original in Geneva...

French jeweller known for its Renaissance Revival and Art Nouveau work. In 1839, the firm’s founder, Alphonse Fouquet, entered the jewellery industry at the age of eleven, serving as an apprentice to Parisian jeweller Henri Meusnier. His mistreatment under Meusnier is...

1922 to Present Day Raymond Yard began his career in the jewelry industry at the age of thirteen when he became a messenger boy at the well-established firm of Marcus & Co. in New York. Over the next twenty-four years, Yard firmly established himself...

The Riker Brothers jewelry firm was most notable as one of the few American companies to create plique-à-jour enamel jewelry, which included beautiful Art Nouveau styles, Japanesque water birds, and Renaissance style pendants and brooches. Early on they manufactured...

(1947-1969) The well-known Beverly Hills jeweler, William Ruser, started his career at the firm of Trabert & Hoeffer-Mauboussin in Atlantic City New Jersey, before being transferred to manage their Los Angeles location in the 1930's.Healy & Proddow,...