Shreve & Co.

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Shreve & Company
Type Private
Industry Jewellers
Founded 1854
Headquarters San Francisco, United States
Products Jewelry
Website www.shreve.com

Shreve & Company is an established retailer of jewelry, from timepieces to diamonds, headquartered in San Francisco, California. Incorporated in 1894 by George Rodman and Albert J. Lewis,[1] it is considered the oldest commercial establishment in San Francisco.[2]

History

Shreve & Co. SF 1
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The company's precursor, The Shreve Jewelry Company, was established by Rodman's father and uncle, George and Samuel Shreve, who had moved to San Francisco from New York. George learned goldsmithing from his older half-brother, Benjamin. The latter had established Shreve, Crump & Low in Boston.[3]

By the 1880s, The Shreve Jewelry Company was considered among the finest silversmiths in the United States, selling high quality timepieces, gold, and silver jewelry, aside from diamonds and precious stones.[4] The store, which had opened at Montgomery and Clay, soon moved to Market Street.[3]

Just a month before the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, Shreve & Co. opened its new eleven-story building at Post and Grant. Built with the latest engineering technologies of its time, the Shreve & Co. building was one of a few San Francisco buildings that survived the April 18 earthquake.[1] With its building rendered unusable, the company opened shop in Oakland, where it stayed for two years. The company's first flatware products and illustrated catalogs were created at this time.[1]

In 2011, after more than a century of operating within California, the company launched its first store in Portland, Oregon, offering timepieces from A. Lange & Söhne, Baume & Mercier, IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Officine Panerai, Patek Philippe, Rolex, Wellendorff, Harry Winston, and David Yurman.[4]

Even though the company had been bought by Schiffman's in November 1992, the company retained its name.[5]

Notable Collections

Ice cream fork, Shreve & Company, Iris service, silver, 1903-1917
  • The deYoung Museum, Art Museum: on exhibit – Shreve & Co. Silver, featuring a complete set of the Iris pattern, including flatware, candlesticks, serving bowls and centerpieces.
  • The deYoung Museum, Paper Archives: houses over 1,600 of the Shreve & Co. factory drawings and photographs taken at the Shreve & Co. factory.
  • The California Historical Society has the Silver Spade used by President William Howard Taft, and other objects from Shreve & Co., including the Mellon Tea Set, Silver Punch Bowl presentation piece, The Huntington Prize, 1899, a matching silver tray, a Horse Show prize dated 1899; silver medals, 1902, Mechanics Institute with presentation case.
  • The San Francisco Historical Society has the Silver Spade used by San Francisco Mayor James Rolphe at the groundbreaking for city hall and the civic center, and other objects made by Shreve & Co.
  • The Oakland Museum: a large collection of Shreve & Co. silver from the collection of the late Dr. Elliot Evans, curator of the Society of Pioneers, 1956–1971.
  • The San Francisco Public Library at the Civic Center: on exhibit on the history floor, the silver trowel used for the Library groundbreaking by Mayor Rolphe; an original miniature spade and the original enclosure card; the tower of jewels souvenir made by Shreve & Co.

Gallery

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 "About Us". Shreve.com. Retrieved 2012-06-18. 
  2. "San Francisco Shopping". Fodors.com. Retrieved 2012-06-19. 
  3. 3.0 3.1 "Shreve & Company". Langantiques.com. Retrieved 2012-06-19. 
  4. 4.0 4.1 "Shreve & Co. Jewelers branching out to Oregon". PRlog.org. Retrieved 2012-06-19. 
  5. "Our History". Schiffmans.com. Retrieved 2012-06-29. 

External links


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