A San Francisco Orginial Since 1852

History

1894 The Shreve Jewelery Store Becomes Shreve & Co.

After the deaths of the two intrepid Shreve brothers, the store was incorporated as Shreve & Co. in 1894, with George Rodman, the son of George Shreve, as president and partner Albert J. Lewis as the majority stockholder.

The store now stood on Market Street, across from the Grand Palace Hotel. Stately carriages rolled by with women adorned in feathers and finery...their escorts clad in top hats and waistcoats. Fashion of the day dictated that men wear wide cravats accented by diamonds and gold stickpins. Women wore many pieces of fine jewelry - brooches, necklaces, rings...and many bejeweled bracelets on each wrist. The style setters of this era lived in opulence. The mines, railroads and rich farmlands had spawned a new wealth on San Francisco's Gold Coast.

Inside the store, boys dressed in the Shreve & Co. livery of maroon jacket, coat, shirt and tie matched the quiet elegance of the store. These boys were entrusted with the responsibility of taking money, mostly sacks of twenty dollar gold pieces, to the central Cashier's Desk, as well as bringing merchandise to the gift wrapping desk, a tradition which is still carried out during the holiday season to this day.

1906 Shreve Survives Great San Francisco Earthquake

In March, 1906, Shreve & Co. was moved to the ground floor of a building at Post and Grant. Newly built, this eleven-story building was constructed with the newest engineering technology of the time. The building was named Shreve & Co., in deference to its principal tenant. Just one month later, disaster struck. The Great Earthquake and Fire of 1906 destroyed most of the city. However, due to its construction, the Shreve & Co. building remained standing. Immediately after the earthquake, loyal Shreve & Co. employees rushed to lock away valuable items in the vault, thus protecting the store's assets from the fire which raged for three days. Upon returning to the charred ruins of the store, the employees found the safe intact, but had to wait three weeks before it cooled sufficiently to open. Aside from a few scorched records, everything was unharmed!

Shreve & Co. moved into temporary quarters in Oakland for the two years it took to restore the building to its former elegance. During this period, Shreve & Co. developed its first line of flatware and published their first illustrated catalogs which featured jewelry and novelties, as well as their own silverware designs.

1914 Shreve & Co. Supports the War Effort

When World War I broke out, Shreve & Co. was converted to war production, manufacturing airplane parts for the government. The silversmiths were instructed on how to handle sledge hammers, rather than the delicate instruments of the jewelry-making trade. At the war's end, Shreve & Co. quickly went back to producing luxury goods.

1967 Presidential Gifts And Rare Exhibits

George Rodman Shreve sold his stock in the company in 1912 to George Lewis, the son of Albert. Lewis in turn sold the firm to the Hickingbotham family in 1948. And, for the first time in a century, the ownership of the store went from a noted San Francisco family to that of a corporation when the Dayton-Hudson corporation purchased Shreve & Co. in 1967. The factory was closed at this time, ending the career of California's oldest silversmith and the last major regional silversmith in the United States.

Over the years, Shreve & Co. has created and sold many rare and costly items. One of the most unusual was a solid 18K gold life-size rooster weighing 14 pounds, as well as a ten inch Statue of Liberty for the wife of a foreign president. When President Teddy Roosevelt visited San Francisco, the citizens presented him with a ten-inch high golden bear cast in solid gold, from Shreve & Co. Additionally, Shreve & Co. has created gifts for delegates to the founding of the United Nations, as well as the state of California's coronation gift to Queen Elizabeth II.

Many priceless items have also been exhibited in the Shreve & Co. store, including the 5.4 million dollar Crown of the Andes with its 435 emeralds, the uncut 726 carat Jonkers Diamond, the jewels of Russia's Catherine the Great, the carved heads of Lincoln and Eisenhower created in polished sapphires valued at $500,000 and the 104 carat Chrysanthemum Diamond.

More recently, Shreve & Co. has prided itself on a variety of special exhibits, such as the Goldsmith's Hall silver from England, the international award-winning DeBeers Diamond Contest pieces and the treasures salvaged from the sunken Spanish galleon, The Atocha.

2002 Shreve & Co. Celebrates its 150th Anniversary

A San Francisco Original.
San Francisco has seen its share of overnight successes, from the gold rush to Silicon Valley. For 150 years, Shreve & Co. has been there for them all. Experiencing the excitement of the gold rush, countless architectural wonders and the myriad personalities who have woven the intricate fabric of our beloved city, we celebrate yet another milestone.




















329 Stanford Shopping Center • Palo Alto • 650-327-2211 • 200 Post St. • San Francisco • 415-421-2600
Shreve & Co.
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