The Becker family is in it's 5th generation in the wholesale-business
with rough- and semiprecious stones, art objects made out of agate and amethyste,
as well as mineral specimens. The company is seated in
Idar-Oberstein, Rheinland-Pfalz and has the name
H. Rudolf Becker. Since 1860 the familiy is importing and
exporting these products. The business activities started in the 19th century
in the course of an emigration wave to Brasil.
The local stone carving and lapidary industry did not have enough of the rough material
left that used to come out of their own pits like the
"Steinkaulenberg". Therefor people had to leave for Southamerica on sailing ships
and try a new beginning overseas.
In the south of Brasil in the state of Rio Grande do Sul the settlers found
agates and amethysts, which they brought to
Idar-Oberstein and helped the local industry to start business again -
you may read here tracking transmigrants -
the Becker family in the gemstone region Idar-Oberstein, or the story behind
six inhabitated the sierra.
Among these settlers was my great-great-grandfather
Philipp Becker and his son, my great-grandfather
Philipp Rudolf Becker, who then continued with trading.
In Idar-Oberstein they know my ancestors under the name of
Stein-Becker's, which means "Stone-Becker's", implifying the family
tradition, and moreover we call us happy to have the inventor of the "Spießbraten"
amongst us, as it is told that in 1861 Karl Becker, my great-great-granduncle,
prepared this first brasilian
style barbecue in Dietzen (what used to be a public place in town).
The company bears the name of my grandfather,
Helmut Rudolf Becker, who from the 40's until the 70's
found the pretty and dark coloured amethyst in the location of Artigas/Uruguay.
He also imported agates and carried out the usual auctions for the rough
agate. After a shipload of agate had reached Idar-Oberstein via Hamburg or Bremen
it meant to take samples of each lot of agate. These samples were called
Schliewer (signifying small pieces), and were hammered off
the agate-almonds in pieces of 5cm of length and 2cm width.
As there used to be 2 metric tons of material per shipment one can imaging
"the work that has been done", or as they say in the local tongue:
"do wäs ma waat ma geschafft hat"!
These samples were put into different kinds of acid and then burned in a
special oven,
to test the usefulness for colouring of the agate and to find out about the shape and
thickness of their chalcedony veining, because the more colour and
chalcedony layers the higher the price.
Those times are gone - nowadays even the traditional lapidary
industry is coming to an end, because foreign competition
produces much cheaper.
On the other hand the quality of local production at Idar-Oberstein
is still higher and those who specialize, for example in the
carving of animals, still get good prices for their objects of art.
The precious stones cutting industry has already moved to India,
Thailand or african countries, also the production of series takes place
elsewhere.
What is left, is Idar-Oberstein as an education center with its
technical college for jewellery design, a trading center with its
diamond and precious stones exchange and the internationally well-known
exhibition Intergem. Idar-Oberstein is and will be the meeting point
of those who participate in the business!
That is exactly the point of view of
my parents, Peter and Mechtild "Matilda" Becker,
who in the 70's expanded the company activities by including
minerals and in doing so created some sensation. They estimate the value of a
stone
not only by its suitability for further processing,
but also on the decorative and estethical appearance and fine looking of
each specimen.
The trading with rough stones for the
lapidary industry like agate, amethyste etc. was first extended by
offering quartz crystals and thereafter presenting the minerals;
lots of material, which before
that usually had been dumped
right at the mines and in the best case had been sought for by rock
hounds and mineral collectors.
This also created a consciousness at the mine owners and layed the basis for
todays trading and business.
Those who feel the excitement for a nicely crystallized fluorite or a wonderful
quartz crystal with long and clear points, cannot imagine these pieces either
being put into a melting furnace to serve as steelhardener or being grinded down and
become a part of a wristwatch as a piezzo-quarz!
Meanwhile
my brother Andreas, his son Anderson, and his daughter Patricia
joined the company and are taking care of the business
- and it has been that my grandmother Ilse felt the excitement of handling beautiful minerals for a long time, until she left us in 2007 at the age of 100 - with all respect, madame!
Of course - that is my humble opinion too.
For those interested dealers, who want
information right away, this is the address:
H. Rudolf Becker
Please note
For more information on Idar-Oberstein follow this link,
or check right here on
I do business in lower bavaria, because I enjoy living
here and can combine business trips with holidays to South Africa, Namibia,
Brasil and the USA! So far so good - that's all on my family background
...
Hauptstrasse 116
55743 Idar-Oberstein
Tel.: 06781-43822
Fax: 06781-46538
url: www.hrb-mineralien.de
Dealers only, no sightseeing or what so ever!