I’ve blogged about the history of turquoise, but I’ve failed to write about the history of Stephan USA. Our fantastic company is the culmination of two strong industry families, experts in their respective gemstones, teaming up to use their expertise & create a new entity. Our partnership builds on individual success to achieve new heights in unexplored business areas.
Matt Foutz
Matt Foutz grew up surrounded by buckets of turquoise with no room to park a car in the garage. Matt’s folks owned the rights to the Sleeping Beauty & Kingman Turquoise mines in the 80’s. Matt’s father, Sterling Foutz, perfected ways of stabilizing turquoise by creating a more substantial stone for all sorts of jewelry to be handed down to generations. Matt followed in his father’s footsteps, pursuing the business in the digital era. Matt was a popular host on QVC, selling
gemstones on live-streaming platforms along with sharing fun & educational videos on social media. Matt has become a reproable vendor at many gem shows held in Hong Kong, Geneva, Munich, Tucson, and Las Vegas, to name a few. Matt has traversed the world’s gemstone mines, finding and sourcing the perfect raw specimens for the Stephan clientele.
Bernd Stephan
Bernd Stephan was born into the gemstone business. In 1957, Bernd’s father, Klaus, founded his gemstone cutting shop for genuine and synthetic gemstones in Frauenberg near Idar-Oberstein, Germany. This is the exact location where production continues 66 years later. The rise and history of the Stephan company are closely linked to a U.S. age-old tradition of class rings. Back then, most students celebrated their high school achievements and milestones by wearing beautifully crafted class rings.
During their heyday, a class ring was a symbol of outstanding achievement. It also became a symbol of young love when girls would wear their boyfriend’s class rings, symbolizing they were going steady. Eventually, a college diploma became the goal, causing a decline in the high school class ring market. As this trend evolved, many universities grew strong-rooted traditions. A college ring became nearly as important as the diploma itself. Wearing a college ring illustrated great solidarity and respect for the hard work going into achieving a collegiate degree. Sadly, eventually, the college ring demand declined as students chose to put the money towards paying off their tuition. As the college ring trend began to waver, Bernd had the foresight to expand into cutting and producing gemstones for many luxury brands. Bernd has balanced the many facets of our growing customer base without losing those accounts that continue to support and produce class rings. Fortunately, championship rings happen to help keep class manufacturing in business.
Then, I came along.
I may not be part owner, but I happen to be a customer/client who was able to jump on board the Stephan team. I don’t mean to blow my own horn, but adding me to the team brought something special to our dynamics. I worked 25 years in the class ring industry, purchasing gemstones & diamonds. I bring years of jewelry production knowledge, creating generations of class rings for high schools, colleges, and NBA, Superbowl, and NFL Hall of Fame rings. Of the 25 years of experience and memories, my favorite is working with West Point Cadets for several graduating classes. I
helped each cadet select which gemstones best fit their style for their monumental ring, celebrating their
achievements. In my early days in the class ring industry, Klaus Stephan visited me at my job, planting that seed to allow a working/family relationship to blossom. I was then introduced to Bernd, who would join his father during those visits. Eventually creating a magnificent bond between us. As my job slowly moved south of the border, Bernd & Matt asked me to become part of the Stephan USA family.
Diversity
One of my favorite things about the incredible world we live in is the fact that people are as diverse as the gemstones formed by Mother Nature since the beginning of time. When combining the Foutz and Stephan families, we have generations of engineering knowledge and skills to transform raw, rough material dug from the earth into dazzling gemstones. Our mission is to fabricate gemstones needed to bring everybody’s ideas & visions to fruition.
Strictly Confidential & Extremely Beautiful
Our products are individually tailored to the wishes of our customers. As Stephan USA meets new clients, we learn what makes them tick, their likes & dislikes, and goals. We encourage & nurture their creativity while allowing them to learn we’re very trustworthy. Trust is vital, and our customers need to be able to trust us with their confidential designs. Competition is fierce, and everyone’s ideas must remain strictly secretive. We work side by side with our clients, thus creating a special bond. Our customers become part of our special circle of friends. We’ve been blessed with working with clients of all ages, ethnicities, straight and LGBTQIA+. Our diverse customer base is incredibly heartwarming. Thus, our customers become part of our ever-changing and ever-growing family. As mentioned earlier, Stephan USA can provide a wide spectrum of gemstones as varied as the customers we’ve been blessed to call family. Everyone happens to have individuality, bringing joy and beauty into this massive world. It’s impossible not to be aware of the uniqueness everyone brings to the table. The possibilities are endless when you allow yourself to imagine the impact each of us can make for the betterment of mankind.