Groh Ripp - The Magazine

ut also exciting and filled
with wonderful moments.
Bernd Willi Ripp and his
wife were a good team from
the word go. Together they
travelled to customers, discussed
orders and had numerous
ideas. Stefanie Ripp
was always a good partner
and a good team player by
his side, not only looking after
the day-to-day needs of
the company but also taking
care of two small children.
To begin with
they merely
supplied agate
to customers in
the region.
However, Bernd Willi Ripp
dreamed of refining the
products and expanding the
range. He soon obtained
meetings with dial manufacturers
and received the first
job orders.
Gradually the modest workshop
evolved into a considerable
company — and Groh +
Ripp expanded. In 1986 the
company relocated to Idar-
Oberstein — and this is also
where Stefanie Ripp had the
idea for a geographical realignment
of the company.
“Everything in due course,”
012 GROH + RIPP
Stefanie Ripp became
acquainted with the big,
wide world at an early age.
She maintains numerous
friendships with trading
partners on every continent,
helping to ensure that
customers frequently return
to Groh + Ripp.
she says, with a smile. “We
always had lots of ideas and
gradually implemented
these.” Idar-Oberstein has
always been a centre of excellence
for gemstones and
gemstone crafts — in other
words, just the place in which
to make new contacts and
maintain existing ones.
Stefanie Ripp waxes lyrical
when she talks of the business
trips with her husband
and their daughters, which
have influenced them both
professionally and in private
life — even if the border between
work and private life
has always been a fluid one
for the Ripp family. “The
family has always come first
with us — and so has the
firm,” she says, with a wink.
It is not difficult to see the
enthusiasm that the family
has for the company. Dealing
with the most varied of precious
gemstones on a daily
basis is both a profession and
a passion, many customers
and trading partners have
long become friends, who
treasure the Ripps not only
for their expertise and the
quality of their products, but
also for their warmth and
openness.
“
THE LIFE OF
A PERSON IS
TINGED WITH THE
COLOUR OF HIS
IMAGINATION.
”
Honoré de Balzac
GROH + RIPP 013