What happened to Richard Krementz?

[Elmorton]

I was just wondering if anyone knew what exactly happened to the Richard Krementz line... my e-ring is Krementz and I loooove his work (can''t wait for the day I can afford one of the big gemstones!). I know that there was a significant robbery and that he decided to stop making the engagement rings (at least this is what my jeweler told me, online I read that he had decided to pause production) because last October or so, we had a big rush to purchase the wr that goes with my er (ironically, I didn''t like the look once it was sized and went with a different band).

But then recently, I noticed that Pearlman''s put all the Krementz line on clearance. The RKG website says nothing new (hasn''t changed since our engagement more than a year ago) and the news section is under contruction.

So.....did RKG go under? Does anyone know the scoop?

 

[decodelighted]

I found the note on this website interesting.

 

[Ellen]

Date: 11/1/2007 7:06:38 PM
Author: decodelighted
I found the note on this website interesting.

Well that''s really strange...

 

[ang3199]

Hmmm....

something smells fishy..

 

[Skippy123]

Here is his website for gemstones. http://www.rkg1866.com/home.html

 

[decodelighted]

Here is an article about the robbery. Scary.


Excerpt:

The American Gem Trade Association (AGTA) revealed details of the million dollar robbery which resulted in the sudden three month leave of absence of AGTA president, Richard Krementz, beginning July 17, 2006.

Krementz, who owns Richard Krementz Gemstone, was robbed of more than $1 million worth of fine jewelry on June 26 in Amarillo, Texas.

In a statement issued on July 28 by the AGTA, Krementz said he expects to return to his position as president of the AGTA in October, following a reorganization of Richard Kremetz Gemstone, which was established in 1866. “This robbery does not impact our financial strength,” said Krementz. “It did however cause us to strategically review our business and address some of our challenges long-term.”

Krementz added that the company will be dropping its bridal business by the end of 2006, in order to focus on color, which is the core of the company’s business.

 

[decodelighted]

And more details ... YEESH.

Krementz said that a salesman at his company, Richard Krementz Gemstones, based in Newark, N.J., was robbed by four members of what authorities believe was one of the South American gangs that target traveling salespeople in the jewelry industry. The incident, which occurred in late June in Amarillo, Texas, resulted in minor injuries to the salesman and the loss of more than one million dollars worth of jewelry, Krementz said.

"We think it might have been done with a GPS tracker," Krementz said, adding that the devices can track vehicles for up to seven days after placement. "It really terrifies me."

 

[LadyAmythyst69]

Good lord! I wonder why they don''t post pictures of the rings that were stolen so they can maybe track these guys when they try to sell them.

 

[Elmorton]

The note on the website isn''t really that fishy to me, I don''t think... I know that the Krementz company was a producer of costume jewelry since the early or mid 1900''s (if you do a search on Ebay there are some really neat old costume pieces), and that Richard re-formatted the company for upscale jewelry after selling off the costume branch. When I was first looking for more info about my setting, I did stumble upon his personal site and it seems like he has a lot of hobbies (that he listed in that note) and actually, I was surprised that there was SO much personal information about a company CEO available on the web. I just can''t find anything since the robbery... have other big companies suffered such losses? And why did Krementz leave right after the robbery? Was he a suspect or did they think there was internal involvement somehow?!?

 

[Elmorton]

HMMM: http://www.jckonline.com/blog/1950000195/post/1390015539.html