1. Vacheron Constantin
(Manufacturers/Luxury Timepieces)

... Besides being a young businessman, Vacheron was also a talented craftsman. In 1770 his company created the first complication, and nine years later he designed the first engine-turned dials. The son ...

2. Rolex
(Manufacturers/Luxury Timepieces)

... 21 quartz movement used in their Rolex Quartz Date 5100. Within about five years of research, design, and development, Rolex created the "clean-slate" 5035/5055 movement that would eventually power the ...

3. Patek Philippe
(Manufacturers/Luxury Timepieces)

Patek Philippe & Co. is an upscale Swiss watch manufacturer. It is currently owned by the Stern family and is led by Henri Stern and his son. Over the years, Patek Philippe watches have been worn by ...

4. Jaeger LeCoultre
(Manufacturers/Luxury Timepieces)

... In 1870 LeCoultre & Cie manufactured the components of complicated movements using mechanized processes. Within 30 years, thanks to the marriage of hand and machine, the Manufacture created more than ...

5. Breguet
(Manufacturers/Luxury Timepieces)

...  A Clock A Perpetual Calendar A Repeater A Thermometer A Chronograph A Power-Reserve A Pare-Chute Marie Antoinette never lived to see the watch, as it was completed 34 years later, long ...

6. Emeralds
(Gemstones/Colored Gemstones)

... have created confusion about the nomenclature of the different stones. Another important fact is that in actuality there are two different breastplates made within a period of 800 years, and where it is ...

7. Rubies
(Gemstones/Colored Gemstones)

... Upper Myanmar was for centuries the world main source for rubies. It has produced some of the finest rubies ever mined, but in recent years very few good rubies have been found there. The very best color ...

8. Diamonds
(Gemstones/Diamonds)

... that have come to the Earth's surface are generally very old, ranging from under 1 billion to 3.3 billion years old. Diamonds occur most often as euhedral or rounded octahedra and twinned octahedra known ...

9. Yard
(Manufacturers/American Jewelers)

... course of twenty-five years, he had worked his way up from door-boy to head salesperson. With the encouragement of long-time client John D. Rockefeller, Yard left his position and set a shop of his own. ...

10. Pierre Vever
(Manufacturers/French Jewelers)

... up shop at Rue de la Paix. For the next ten years, they produced beautiful jewellery, mostly in the ancient revival style, and Ernest served on various trade commissions. He also began to train his sons, ...

11. Verdura
(Manufacturers/Italian Jewelers)

... location that Cartier inhabited thirty years earlier. From his recently-imprisoned friend Paul Flato, he inherited a stellar sales staff as well as a famous Hollywood clientele. In the two decades that ...

12. Van Cleef & Arpels
(Manufacturers/French Jewelers)

... third contribution is more general, namely, that of being a purveyor of exceptional gems and jewellery. Over the years, Van Cleef has made numerous important acquisitions, including the “Princie Diamond,” ...

13. G. Paulding Farnham
(Manufacturers/American Jewelers)

... as design director at Tiffany two years later in 1902. Louis Comfort Tiffany assumed the role when his father died. In 1908 Farnham resigned from Tiffany and Company due to creative disputes with Louis ...

14. Shreve, Crump and Low
(Manufacturers/American Jewelers)

... hands, and names, six times. In 1855, Benjamin Shreve joined the firm, its first Shreve; in the same year, Charles Crump was hired. Ownership would change several more times in the next fifteen years. ...

15. Shreve and Company
(Manufacturers/American Jewelers)

... the firm moved to Oakland for two years while the building’s interior was restored. When restoration was completed, business returned to normal for about a decade. Shreve again closed its doors during ...

16. Seaman Shepps
(Manufacturers/American Jewelers)

... deceptive get-rich-quick scheme. When he found himself in Los Angeles flush with cash, he opened a store that sold antiques, jewelry, and precious objects. Over the next thirty years, he began and ...

17. John Rubel Co.
(Manufacturers/American Jewelers)

... ended, and Rubel opened his own showroom at 777 Fifth Avenue. In the years that followed, Rubel created jewels depicting French cancan dancers, Spanish flamenco dancers, the Rockettes, Louis XVI style ...

18. Lalique
(Manufacturers/French Jewelers)

... the pieces to firms such as Aucoc, Boucheron, and Cartier. In 1885, he opened a boutique of his own and enjoyed ten years of unprecedented creativity as well as success. Adopting the themes, techniques, ...

19. Garrard
(Manufacturers/English Jewelers)

... Garrard purchased the business; in 1818, his sons succeeded him. In 1843, six years after Queen Victoria ascended the thrown, she appointed Garrard as Crown Jewellers. With this title goes the responsibility ...

20. Fouquet
(Manufacturers/French Jewelers)

... Century, the apprenticeship included physical abuse, long work hours (14 to 20 hours a day), low pay, and nearly unbearable living conditions. Fouquet stayed for five years after which he trudged from ...