German jewellery house, founded by Robert KOCH (1854 - 1902). For most of his life, Robert KOCH, supplier of all royal courts and high nobility in Europe, with shops in Frankfurt and Baden-Baden, is considered to be the Cartier of Germany. In the hope of providing better opportunities for her five children, Regine KOCH, widow of a doctor and mother of Robert KOCH, moved the family to Frankfurt am Main in 1870. Thanks to his talents as a mathematician, Robert worked as a cashier at the Vereinsbank from Frankfurt. Passioned by fashion and beauty he opened a jewelry store in 1879. His equally admirable younger brother Louis became his partner. Robert got married in 1880. The Koch company expanded thanks to the boom in the economy at the end of the 19th century. The family business places great importance on customer relations and acquisition, travels extensively throughout the country and makes a point of visiting customers personally. Koch also takes part in all important industry exhibitions in Berlin and Robert KOCH introduced Germany to jewelry from India from the start, and in the 1880s the brothers opened a store in Baden-Baden in Kolonnaden, where the fashionable elite mingled. Louis - a wonderful salesman with a sophisticated taste - took over from the branch. He and his brother were among the wealthiest men in Frankfurt around 1900. Their success was the result of several factors, including comp laughs at a clear sense of style, excellent taste and business acumen, but also a new strategic approach: they make their own ideas and designs in their own large studios in Hanau by their own master experts. Koch's jewelry is recognizable by a very special style and quality. Koch's clients include many German dynasties, including the houses of Hessen, Thurn und Taxis, and the Hohenzollerns, who conferred the title of court jeweler at the turn of the century. The King of Italy, the Russian Tsar and the Prince of Wales all deal with Koch. In the years 1898 to 1918, the jeweler produced no less than 704 tiaras and crowns and 50 to 60 headbands. In 1902, the jewelry company moved to an imposing store on the Kaiserstrasse in Frankfurt, and the same year Robert KOCH died at the age of 51. Louis managed the business alone until 1909, when Robert's son Otto joined the company with Hermann NETTER, whose style reflected the fashion of the time. Otto died in a riding accident in 1920. Louis died in 1930. The jewelry trade continued, managed by Koch's grandsons, Rudolf and Robert HEILBRUNNER. The Koch's, a Jewish family, emigrated in 1935 to England, where the store in Baden-Baden was forced to close. After the war, the Frankfurt jeweler reopened in 1949 but with new owners. The traditional house finally closed its doors indefinitely in 1986.