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Why have some 19th century watchmakers and jewelers evolved into firms that thrive in the 21st century, while others fizzled out of business long ago? The question occupies watch and jewelry collectors, jewelry historians, and this writer. I caught up with Melissa Wolfgang Amenc, a gemologist and director of the Geneva-based heritage company Golay Fils & Stahl, founded in Geneva in 1837 to discuss the firm's longevity, but first she enthused about the company's upcoming exhibit at Jewellery & Gem World Hong Kong. As she detailed, "Golay Fils & Stahl will be showing an assortment of diamonds & colored gemstones, as well as a great selection of vintage pieces ranging from Art Deco to the late 1970's. "Our focus," she continued, "will be on chic, wearable jewels with signatures like Van Cleef & Arpels, Cartier and Georges Lenfant." In her view, the annual Hong Kong show is almost a one-stop-show. "Gemstones at the airport, vintage & antique jewels, manufacturers from around the world, and packaging," she said. "With such a wide range of product on offer, it's a rendezvous for all kinds of shoppers whether they be retail, trade or private, and this is a vast audience that we count on."
Petite, witty and passionate about her work, Amenc explained how Golay Fils & Stahl got to where it is today, how her grandfather bought it and how she and her father continue to burnish the company's legacy. For starters, Amenc explained, "We have always been of the ethos to 'stick to what you know.' We are privileged to have a team that is collectively knowledgeable in almost every area of the industry," she continued, "so we are able to provide excellent service to our clients, old and new." While Golay Fils & Stahl is a long-standing member of the Swiss Precious Stone Dealers Association, Amenc is vice-president of this organization, a.k.a. the Association Suisse des Négociants en Pierres Précieuses ASNP-VSE. Amenc is also a Swiss delegate at the World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO). Through her involvement in CIBJO's international committees, she contributes to the formalization of ethical standards, research, and industry development.
Golay Fils and Stahl has two Graduate Gemologists, one of whom is Amenc, on staff. The company was founded as a watchmaker in 1837 by Auguste Golay. In that same year, he took as his bride Susanne Leresche, who came from a Vallée de Joux watchmaking family and was a skilled and experienced regleuse, or regulator of movements. In 1842, the company became known as Golay-Leresche and later that decade, it moved to Geneva's Place des Bergues, where it has been headquartered ever since.
Amenc explained that Golay-Leresche specialized in high-end timepieces that were complicated and highly accurate, as opposed to those at the middle or lower end. This point of differentiation established and continued to enhance the reputation of the firm. 1850 to 1930 were golden years for Golay Fils & Stahl: during this period, it became renowned for timepieces of superb quality. What's more, two of Golay-Leresche's sons joined the company; hence the firm name morphed into Golay-Leresche & Fils. The family showcased its timepieces at exhibitions around the world and won an award at the inaugural Universal Exhibition in 1851 at London's Crystal Palace.
Serving captains of industry, discerning collectors as well as members of European royal families and their retinues, Golay Fils & Stahl received a warrant as the official jeweler to the royal family of Romania at the turn of the 20th century. While Romania's King Carol I was a regular customer at the Golay Fils & Stahl boutique, the firm's sales records also mention purchases made by the Maharajah of Baroda and Prince Damrong of Siam (now Thailand). Because the company also operated a boutique in Paris, its customer base grew to include French and British nobles, plus North and South American millionaires. Although the watches still sold, by the 1870s jewelry outpaced timepieces as the firm's top revenue earners.
At the time of Auguste's passing in 1895, a group of 20 watchmakers and jewelers were working for Pierre and Louis Golay. In 1896, these two enlisted Edouard Stahl as a partner. An English jewelry merchant who had lived in Geneva for several decades, Stahl had been a business associate of the Golays for almost 20 years. After Louis died in 1900 followed by Pierre in 1905, Mr. Stahl became sole owner but retained the company name of Golay Fils & Stahl. Between the downturn in watch sales caused by mass marketed, inexpensive U.S.-made wristwatches, the global gloom of World War I and Stahl’s prowess in jewelry merchandising, watchmaking dwindled at the firm. While the store sold watches bearing the Golay Fils & Stahl name, these were manufactured by other makers. In addition, the company retailed highly refined timepieces produced by specialist watchmakers like Audemars Piguet and Patek Phillipe.
Directed by Edouard’s descendants, Golay Fils & Stahl grew to become a leading light among jewelry lovers and hence the Geneva jewelry community. The last member of the Stahl family to run the company was Morris Stahl, who sold the firm to Amenc’s grandfather, gemstone dealer Jacques Wolfgang in 1961. As he had been supplying the Stahls with gemstones since the 1930s, the new owner of Golay Fils & Stahl came to his new position with deep knowledge of the company’s place in the narrative of jewelry history. As Amenc related, “When my grandfather Jacques Wolfgang bought the company, there were already a few old pieces that came with it. Later, after my father Jesse Wolfgang took over, he would occasionally acquire pieces on his travels; as it was important to him to build upon the company legacy.”
For example, Amenc told the following story. “In 2000, I was working at De Grisogono as a stone buyer for that company’s jewelry & watch collections. My father published a book which is a catalogue raisonné of the Golay Fils & Stahl collection. At that time, I was 24; I didn’t work in the family business; and I didn’t understand the importance of the collection—or that of the collaboration with the museum,” the now defunct Musée d’Horlogerie de Genève she recalled. “All of this was very meaningful to my father, however—both as an important collaboration and as a celebration of our company’s heritage.” Jesse Wolfgang published a catalogue raisonné to accompany the exhibition, Amenc continued, “and the collection has now more than doubled in size since then. When my father showed the then-curator of Musée d’Horlogerie our enamels collection she was blown away by exquisite quality and intricate details of our enamels and jeweled pieces. In her opinion they surpassed even some top jewelers in industry.”
Enhancing and relating the company legacy is vitally important to Amenc, who started working for Golay Fils & Stahl in 2001. At that time, she recollected, “I was doing five or six jewelry trade shows a year and would find old Golay Fils & Stahl pieces at those events, or exhibitors would recognize the name and bring them to me. These days, we tend most often to buy jeweled or enamel pieces. We will only buy creations that are in exceptional condition, or those that need minimal repair. We have a few complicated pieces, and they are fantastic and interesting from a horological perspective.” Amenc described her main roles at the firm as follows. “I work actively within the trade as well as with private clients, and the trends are never the same in those two worlds. When it comes to colored gemstones, I’m influenced by what my trade clients want and what they are buying—which is generally higher end material.” To clarify, she adds: “When it comes to colored stones, it’s more emotional: I often feel myself being drawn to a stone or I am just loving it.”
When it comes to the jewelry that Amenc purchases for her cosmopolitan clientele however: “Surely the trends influence me on an unconscious level,” she began. “But truth be told I’m more of an instinctive buyer. I buy what I love and what I think is beautiful,chic or cool. I think if you love something,” she ventured,“you will find someone else who does too...passion is contagious!”
Golay Fils and Stahl has curated a collection of over 200 antique pieces which are housed in the company's private museum in its Quai des Bergues headquarters. Amenc worked to exhibit 12 of these in the May 2025 Gem Genève jewelry trade show in Geneva's Palexpo. As she explained: "I selected the Art Deco pieces from our collection for the curator of the Art Deco exhibition at Gem Genève and they streamlined my selection once they saw what they had from other lenders. It was very collaborative. I have three favorites: First, the rectangular lady's wristwatch with geometric shaped diamonds - it's so refined and still so modern. Then there's the world time pocket watch because wow. What a technological advancement to have created such a piece at that time! Its creator Louis Cottier was the watchmaker who invented world time concept and collaborated with several watchmakers including Golay Fils and Stahl five times; he was a genius! Finally there is red enamel bird of paradise table clock; it’s just so beautiful and bold.”
Running a historic company that delivers white glove service to private clients while also managing a family is doubtless demanding in terms of time, energy and organization. When this writer asked how Amenc finds balance in her daily life, she replied: “Recently I saw an interview with Feriel Zerouki Chief Trade and Industry Officer of De Beers who answered a similar question with something to the effect of ‘There is no such thing as balance and whoever says otherwise is lying.’ I couldn’t agree with her more! I work a lot,” Amenc continued,“and there are periods of the year where I travel a lot too. Sometimes everything runs smoothly; sometimes it’s an absolute mess at home. I’m lucky to have a husband who often picks up my slack,” she concluded,“and a wonderful nanny who keeps oil in the machine. I don’t really have balance; I function well in extremes most of the time.”
Amenc also functions well as a guide. By mentoring the next generation of jewelry professionals,Amenc informally trains individuals inthe industry,sharing her expertiseand experience.When queried aboutthe biggest challengesthat women inthe jewelry industryface today,Amenc answers:“I don’t really know.I still see a lot of misogyny even in people my age.I imagine there is a pay gap like in every industry.”Yet she added:“There are quite a few very brilliant and successful C-Suite women in the jewelry industry.”
Given her commitments to young professionals and to Golay Fils & Stahl,Amenc seems destinedto soon join their ranks.