Talking to Köhle about clasps one thing becomes immediately clear; this company is extremely passionate about what they do. It's all about quality, long lasting functionality, and design. But there is more to it, as we will discover over the next weeks.
How it all started, why clasps and what makes a clasp an excellent clasp...we sat down with the Köhle company to find out more!
Kohle specialized at some point in history in clasps. I am curious! Why clasps?
Our business started with the demand for clasps for the South-American market. In those days simili were quite in fashion. In combination with the clasps, a niche could be developed in the world market and right there we had our first boom, our bull run, so to speak!
Once you have put your feet into this niche, the development grows almost organically: from one idea to the next until finally, you find the kind of product that gives you this enormous potential. A worldwide potential. Especially when we started and succeeded in developing our own tools and we could hire and train our own mechanic people. We ended up with our very own tool department.
We create all kinds of clasps, except the mass produced spring rings and tiny lobster clasps. But we do start with simple quality products that sell around USD 1,50 and up.
Today Köhle has these main categories:
Magnetic Clasps
Interchangeable clasps
Simple Tongue clasps
Köhle Magnetic Slide Clasp
Can you tell us more about your clasps?
Apart from the stamped tongue clasps (e.g. especially ball clasps and oval clasps), our own Köhle goldsmiths are always involved in the manufacturing process. They guarantee the quality behind every single piece. Each Köhle clasp combines functionality and durability of the product. A long lasting life is very important and we are quite proud to give such a guarantee!
Especially our newly developed Köhle lobster clasp-series WAVE allows the wearer of a piece of jewelry containing this clasp to experience both the elegance, the secret closing, and the functionality. The mechanism can’t be seen at first glance and the clasps also include safe handling.
Our other recently developed magnetic clasp-series: SLIDE gives the user a combination of a safe handling - where in the world can you put a 2kg weight on a clasp?! -and an elegant clasp solution.
This clasp could only be developed because we use in the very first step CAD-data in order to guarantee precision and an efficient production process.
If you could advise a retailer selling a clasp to a client with a pearl necklace, what kind of clasp would you, as an expert, recommend?
The jeweler in many cases says: invest first in the best pearls your budget allows you to buy and one day you change the cheaper clasp for something more beautiful. This is what, in my opinion, normally happens. We see that differently and would recommend the retailer to advise their clients this: think of the pearls and the clasp as really one piece of jewelry. In a market where so many strands of pearls look similar, what better way to distinguish the beautiful pearl strand than by using a beautiful matching clasp.
When a retailer sells more than one strand of pearls to create a necklace, we recommend to always opt for safety first. Where the direction of the movement is different from the closing.
What would you recommend any jewelry retailer to have always in stock when it comes to clasps?
Basic items such as ball clasps in different sizes and colors, also in rosé gold. Nr.2 would be the very well-known lobster clasps. And a must-have today is also the magnetic clasp, offering the customer an easy handling even for bracelets.
What can you tell about the process of designing clasps and techniques used to create them?
The more elaborate pieces are all done with our CAD-system. Our in-house designer can use basic parts like closing or diamonds in different shapes and sizes. Casting is still the number 1 method for the prototype. This is done with a first wax produced with CAD data. We create the first steps always in-house. Here we have all our developments and company secrets in creating the best clasps.
Köhle Magnetic Slide Clasp
Köhle works all around the world? Who are your clients?
Our clients are located around the world, nearly all of them have a relationship with pearls. So one of the very well known Japanese pearl companies is our customer. We also deal with companies for whom we create clasps with their logo either on the body of the clasp or on the tongue. Our clients are mainly quality orientated companies, from Australia to the United States, Japan, Hong Kong, and many more Asian countries. And yes, all over Europe of course.
Köhle Magnetic Slide Clasp
What is a typical Köhle clasp?
Ah, for Köhle it is the ‘’CLICK’’ – stands for quality!
What makes a clasp an excellent clasp?
The long-lasting functionality and of course; the CLICK!
More about the fabulous, high-quality Köhle clasps can be found here.
J. Köhle GmbH & Co. KG
Stolzestrasse 3
75175 Pforzheim, Germany
Telephone: +49(0)7231-60020
E-Mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
www.koehle.com
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