Our Proud History
(Three Generations of Jewelry Professionals)
The fabric of America is made up of people whose ancestors came from somewhere else, and I am no exception. At the beginning of the 20th century, Budapest, Hungary had a sparkling energy and efflorescence and sophistication which rivaled that of Vienna and Paris, during the belle époque. It was there that my grandfather, Isaak Rothauser, made a name for himself by handcrafting jewelry for the rich elite of the city.
In the time-honored tradition, he first completed an apprenticeship of at least ten years. In the beginning, there was all the requisite scut-work, such as sweeping the floor and refilling the jewelers’ supplies. Everything was created by hand. Isaak worked in this tradition as had his master before him.
It was this milieu in which my father, Eugene, found himself. Born in 1909, he was apprenticed to one of the finest jewelers in Budapest, shortly after World War I. In time, Eugene was a highly sought-after, very talented jeweler as well as diamond setter. He worked on some of the most important pieces of jewelry in that city.
Fast forward to after World War II. I can be counted among the many baby-boomers born during the expanding American economy after the war. My parents had settled in the Bronx, New York, and that is where I grew up, moving latter on to Forest Hills, where they bought a house. There was Forest Hills High School, and City College. Like so many other first-generation Americans, I could not conceive of an apprenticeship in anything! I would never work with my hands, and I aimed at a white collar job, such as accounting or law, or even medicine.
A funny thing happened on the way to the middle class: I fell in love with diamond cutting, which I saw during the times when I helped my dad in his work. So I tried it and prospered! (The best laid plans of mice and men….you know. Accounting and law went the way of all preconceived plans!)
This turned out to be something I excelled at and enjoyed. In addition, I had to sell the finished diamonds, usually to jewelers. And when I saw how jewelers worked — the idea of taking a lump of gold, and diamonds and precious gems and turn these raw materials into beautiful creations — well, I was really hooked! Slowly, I began to incorporate excellent old-world craftsmanship with new-world get-up-and-go action as well as business management lessons learned in college, and a jewelry manufacturing company was born. We grew and prospered. Of course, being a baby-boomer and interested in every technical advancement, when PCs began to be part of business life, I jumped in with both feet!
Da'Carli Diamond Jewelry became the kind of business I really always wanted, and I did it my way. Not only do we value European craftsmanship, but we also value our customers, who respond with comments and advice! So I am the third generation of Rothausers to proudly continue on with the traditions and values of my European ancestors here in America.