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Fretz Design evolved from a jewelry business started in 1970.  Marian (Jordan) Fretz, recently graduated from the University of Maine with a marketing degree was working in Boston.  Bill Fretz was teaching at the Cleveland Institute of Art, having graduated from the School for American Craftsmen in Rochester, NY.  They joined forces to start Fretz Goldsmiths in St. Peters Village in Pennsylvania.  They moved the business to Kennebunkport in 1974 and expanded into a gallery including their jewelry. The tool designs started with small stakes to set the unusual Maine tourmaline that they were commissioned to set.

Jordan Fretz began a jewelry business of his own while in grade school and sold craft fairs in the early 1980’s.  This evolved into a custom jewelry business making fabricated gold and platinum jewelry marketed in New York.

The bezel stakes were first introduced to the jewelry community at SNAG in 2003.
The business was renamed Fretz Design LLC to better reflect the company’s expanding design interests. Jordan moved to Vietnam and took over the tool production and made the first Fretz hammers in 2006.  The Fretz tool line has grown to include a wide range of hammers and stakes. Fretz tools are designed with multiple uses so each metalsmith can pursue a unique vision.

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