Black, Starr & Frost
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| Industry | Jewelry |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1810 |
| Website | http://blackstarrfrost.com/ |
Black, Starr & Frost is an American jewelry company. Founded in 1810, the company is the oldest continuously operating jewelry firm in the United States.
The Molina Group acquired the company in 2006 and relocated its headquarters to Phoenix. Since then, Alfredo J. Molina has served as chairman and CEO.
Founded in 1810 by Isaac Marquand – a silversmith whose family immigrated from France – Black, Starr & Frost opened as Marquand & Co. in New York City, making it the oldest continuously operating jewelry firm in the United States. At that time, two store clerks – William Black and Henry Ball – eventually joined the firm, which became Black, Ball & Company. In 1912, the company – by then named Black, Starr & Frost – moved to New York City offices at the southeast corner of Fifth Avenue and 48th Street, known as the diamond district.
Black, Starr & Frost has had a number of notable clients, such as the Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, Carnigies, Guggenheims, Bunny Mellon, Elizabeth Taylor and Zsa Zsa Gabor.
1833: Black, Starr & Frost is the first to use plate-glass windows to display merchandise to pedestrians.
1837: Black, Starr & Frost crafted first class ring for West Point; continued to manufacture for West Point until 1909. Famous West Point grads who wore Black, Starr & Frost rings include President Ulysses S. Grant, General George A. Custer and General Douglas MacArthur.
1851: Black Starr & Frost’s pure gold four-piece tea service displayed at the London Crystal Palace Exhibition.
1859: Black, Starr & Frost provided more than $100,000 in pearls and diamonds to the bride Frances Amelia Bartlett as a gift from the groom Don Esteban Santa Cruz de Oviedo in the “Diamond Wedding” at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
1860: The Company received an order for more than $12,000 of jewelry and silverware from Edward, Prince of Wales.
1860: Built the finest business structure and most famous shop of its time on Broadway and Prince Street. The first fireproof building in New York, it was constructed of white marble, and in its vaults the modern safe deposit system was fashioned.
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Wikipedia