Steven Kretchmer

Steven Kretchmer is recognized as being the most visible innovator on the American jewelry scene today. Fascinated with metals since childhood, Kretchmer ‘s curiosity grew over the years into an insatiable need to know more – and to use his knowledge to further his craft.

Kretchmer’s route to precious metal and jewelry design and technology followed an unusual path. Initially he tried fishing in Alaska, attended the Rhode Island School of Design, and then worked for a famous jeweler in Italy. He studied and mastered martial arts and earned black belts in three forms. Kretchmer later attended the University of Michigan and earned a master of fine arts degree in the metals program, where he was nicknamed the “mad scientist”. After his formal education, his genius and energy were hard to conceal.

Today he holds numerous patents and is revered internationally for his innovations in the jewelry industry. His continual development and use of unique precious metals, displayed in ageless designs with diamonds and gems, added new dimensions to the fine art of jewelry.

While his wife and partner, Alma, ran the business, Steven played alchemist, formulating new alloys and researching several directions in precious metallurgy at one time. The laboratory and business were located in a renovated 1899 schoolhouse in upstate New York. The couple died within a year of each other and now daughter, Claudia, also a gifted designer, continues the family brand.