Groh Ripp - The Magazine

010 GROH + RIPP
“
STRENGTH MAKES
NO NOISE — IT IS
THERE AND ACTS.
”
Albert Schweitzer
He is only truly happy when
he is at his company,” says
Stefanie Ripp, of her husband.
The success of Groh
+ Ripp is due in large
part to the passion for the
products, but also to business
management considerations.
The profits earned
were always invested in new
technology and materials,
which either found use with
goldsmiths and jewellers
or served as dials for select
watch brands.
Many customer requests
could be satisfied from
stocks, however, Bernd Willi
Ripp was always in search
of new, interesting minerals,
gemstones, that special
Bernd Willi Ripp only buys
when he is convinced of the
quality of a product. A simple
principle, and one that
has made Groh + Ripp the
success story that it is today.
something. He still purchases
gemstones in a targeted
manner to this day. In
the case of unusual requests
he can resort to his direct
contacts with mine owners
and suppliers of rough
stones. “Depending on the
customer request, it may
take a while for us to find
the matching stone, because
obviously nature sets limits
from time to time. However,
our long-standing business
contacts often provide
us with privileged access
to particular stones,” says
Bernd Willi Ripp.
Many stones are bought
when they appear on the
market — over the course
of the years this has resulted
in an incredible
stock of uncut stones being
amassed. This provides the
freedom to offer the matching
colours for every fashion
trend.
Stefanie Ripp is also passionate
about the business,
which she has grown
up with from a child: her
father, Theo Groh, ran an
agate cutting operation in
Rhaunen, a village in the
Hunsrück region, approximately
25 kilometres to the
north of Idar-Oberstein.
The company supplied
many of the companies in
the area. At an early age she
discovered her love of the
treasures of nature and the
art of transforming rough
stones into perfect forms.
She has retained her feel
for gemstones acquired
from those days and she
looks back fondly on the
beginnings of the company:
when she married Bernd
Willi Ripp 41 years ago and
he joined the company, in
1973, that was to become
Groh + Ripp, the times were
difficult and challenging,
GROH + RIPP 011