Kaufmann De Suisse
Kaufmann De Suisse was founded in 1954 by Swiss born Montreal, Canadian Emil Pius Kaufmann. In 1942 World War II was in full swing in Europe and Kaufmann was working as a carpenter with his father when a school counselor should consider studying jewelry making. With this advice he got a job apprenticing for four years with Saint-Gall’s master-jeweler. While apprenticing he also began taking courses at the local School of Arts and Trades. After apprenticing he opened his own shop in September of 1954 where he rented a room on the second floor at 1466 Drummond Street. It's rumored his first order was a gold key. He began and continued as a manufacturing jeweler and slowly began to expand into retail. The firm expanded greatly and set up a showroom on Crescent Street in Montreal, followed by a Worth Avenue in Palm Beach and New York on Madison Avenue each of which have workshops. Emil's three children, Christopher, Charles, and Moneca became involved in the business as well.
