Levison Brothers/California Jewelry Co. has been active from 1859 until 1935. Founded in 1859, they occupied 629 Washington Street, San Francisco, California in 1863, and in 1871 moved to two floors of their own building at 134 Sutter Street, San Francisco with engines, equipment, and equipment powered by a 25-horsepower engine.
Their advertisement for 1871 states that they are the sole agent for American Watch Co., Elgin National Watch Company, Howard Watch Co., Chas. E. Jacot Watches, Carter Sloan & amp; Co Fine Jewelry, Meriden Britannia Co., and Rogers Brothers silverware, New Haven Clock Co., and Laders Frary & amp; Clark's cutlery. The company also imports watches, diamonds, jewelry, silverware, cutlery, clocks, and operatic sunglasses, and jewelry making. Essential tasks such as diamond cutting are done on the site per promotional pamphlet that has survived to this day. Several cases of gold and silver signing that began and became known were known as date of writing. These cases were signed "Levison Bros." or prefixed with "LB" or similar.
One of their specialties is the production of locally sourced, locally sourced gold quartz, mossstone, and gold jewelry and popular utility items in the 19th century, including chains, arm buttons, chest pins, booths, rings, thimbles, and a solid gold belt buckle with inlay. The women's belt buckle by the Levison Brothers is shown as a picture of the New York Metropolitan Museum containing descriptions showing that the California Jewelry Company employee Mr. William Cummings was patent 1868 August from a special belt buckle and ring design used in specimens owned by the museum. Some of these pieces survive today, and most do not seem to be signed and are hard to verify because they were made by Levison Brothers/California Jewelry Co.
The fractional gold coins were produced as a legitimate payment instrument for a year in 1871, using the "L" stamp for Levison Brothers, utilizing locally available California gold. Company bought R.B. Gray Co. from San Francisco, and then can continue to make fractional gold using the facility until authorities try to stop production. A former Levison Brothers employee continues to use dies for coin production for several more years. The fractional gold coins from this period appear to have been produced primarily as souvenirs
Herman Levison was a very rich man at the time of his death in San Francisco in 1896. According to this newspaper article, he appears to be very famous among traders in the United States and Europe, and is very liberal in giving credit to smaller dealers, and he great success in his business. For many years he owned homes in Hamburg, Germany, and in San Francisco, California, where he hosted lavish parties. His wife and three children live in Germany, and his son Louis Oscar Levison grew up in Europe. Louis Oscar eventually became a partner in the company once his father died.
Buildings that accommodate Levison Brothers/California Jewelry Co. San Francisco over the years is located at 132, 134, and 136 Sutter Street, San Francisco California, and is designed and built by corporate partners. According to an article in Daily Alta California, the building is a 3 story plus a basement structure built at a cost of $ 130,000 (1871 US dollars), and includes full-fledged machines for cutting gems. Cullen as head of jewelry at home. Design. The year's imports are $ 500,000 per year, and produce $ 300,000 annually. The first floor tenants of the Sutter Street building include W.K. Vanderslice & amp; The silversmiths who were San Francisco's famous producers of high quality silver spoons and hollow gear out of this facility began around 1873.
There is a living history photo of this building seen from Sutter Street, archived on the internet, even with the "Levison Brothers" road signs removed from the picture.
Levison family members who are Levison Bros. employees or California Jewelry Co. including the following: Louis Levison 1827-1901 (One of the two brothers who immigrated from Germany and run the company as a partner) Herman Levison 1831-1895 (One of the two brothers, and head of business Immigrating from Germany and running the company as a partner) Louis Oscar Levison 1870-1953 (son of Herman Levison) became a company partner after his father died in 1895. Worked for the company through merger in 1907, and until the dissolution of the company in 1935 Walter Herman Levison 1904-1997 (son Louis Oscar Levison. company from 1927 to 1929. Working for the company until the dissolution in 1935)
Note that the person with the last name "Levison" sells retail goods under the name "Levison Brothers" or "Levison Bros." during the gold rush and/or silver-rush era in the Sacramento, California area unrelated to Levisons running the California Jewelry Co. operations. from San Francisco. The similarity between people's names and operations is purely coincidental.
Video Levison Brothers / California Jewelry Co. San Francisco
The effects of the San Francisco earthquake and fire 1906 at the Levison Brothers operations
The business grew rapidly when in 1906 an earthquake and a fire in San Francisco made the total loss of the original building that Levison built in 132, 134, and 136 Sutter Street (see artist's rendition on the right). The only ones left were diamonds and jewelry stored in enormous vaults, which fell three floors through a burning building buried in the basement, sandwiched between several barrels of iron he had withdrawn. It was badly burned in the fire, and allowed to cool for two weeks before anyone could touch it. After an intense digging effort, the hole is opened around the safe so that the safe door can be opened. The excitement is high. The doors in the vault have been held tight, and they find the main contents unharmed. The Levisons quickly hide their contents for a temporary hideout, transporting its contents through San Francisco Bay via a boat (this is the pre-bridge era) to a family residence on Beach Road, Belvedere Island, California and other locations in Mill Valley, California. The 19th century Victorian residence on Belvedere Island still exists to this day as a historic property.
Maps Levison Brothers / California Jewelry Co. San Francisco
See also
- California gold coins
- Fractional currency (United States)
- The History of San Francisco
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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