At the beginning of the 1950s a small Brazilian jewelry company was making a name for itself in international circles. With beautiful jewels and an audacious marketing strategy for that time, the company was poised to revolutionize the traditional jewelry industry. Behind the rising brand was Hans Stern, a young German émigré, and a "carioca"* at heart. Several years earlier, in 1945, at age 22, he had founded a small gemstone trading business in Rio de Janeiro - the beginning of this success story.