The article in GZ "A fantastic connection"

This article was published on 05.11 in GZ Goldschmiedezeitung by Caroline Schiedt. It has been translated for you by J. Köhle GmbH & Co. KG.
Always close to the action:
Margit Kühnel, Karina Ratzlaff,
Waltraud Köhle, Norbert Ratzlaff
and Joachim Köhle (from left to right)
A FANTASTIC
CONNECTION
Human kindness and trust are the driving forces
behind all interactions at clasp manufacturer J. Köhle in Pforzheim.
This family truly lives both, its personal and business life,
as a close-knit unit.
Series
FAMILIES IN THE
JEWELLERY BUSINESS
Part 16: The Köhle Family
“I obviously thought that precious stones
and pearls were a lot more beautiful and interesting than bricks,” reminisces Waltraud
Köhle with a hearty laugh as she recalls
getting reconnected with her now-husband,
Joachim Köhle (80) back in the 1950s in
Lausanne (Switzerland). “Our families had
been acquaintances in Pforzheim for a long
time. I hail from a building supply wholesale
background while Joachim grew up in a
family that had a jewellery business.”
So when Waltraud Köhle embarked on a
one-year scholastic stint in Lausanne, she
rented a room in a small guesthouse. It
was an act of pure serendipity that Joachim
had previously lived there for some time.
When he stopped by to have lunch at his
former landlady’s place on day, he ran into
Waltraud. It was an encounter that would
have consequences: the couple got married
in July 1958.
“When others contemplated us
with pity, I simply thought: we
will show you one day soon.”
Waltraud Köhle
Putting her foreign language skills, which
she had acquired during her studies at
schools in England and France, to work,
Waltraud Köhle, began to support her
husband’s endeavours and very soon
discovered her favourite product: pearls. In
addition to being a dedicated mother, she
spent time developing the range. She raised
three daughters who have all matured into
successful business women. “There were
quite a few families in Pforzheim who pitied
my husband and I because all of our children were daughters. However, I always said
‘We will show you one day soon.’ And my
daughters have proven themselves to everyone. All three of them are great mothers
today and just as successful in their chosen
occupations,” Waltraud Köhle recounts with
pride and her husband nods emphatically.
While their oldest daughter Karina and her
husband Norbert Ratzlaff as well as second
born daughter Margit Kühnel now share the
responsibilities at the helm of the company,
the youngest Köhle daughter eventually
relocated to Münster. However, she has
remained loyal to the industry she grew up
in. She is working as a management assistant
at a major jewellery retailer.
The scopes of responsibility within the management team are clearly defined. Karina
(51) and her sister Margit both knew at an
early age that they wanted to work for “their
daddy.” Karina studied business administration and is now in charge of the enterprise’s
purchasing. She views her position as that
of an interface between production and
sales. To better understand this function, it
is important to know that her sister Margit
Kühnel, who is a master goldsmith, is the
production manager while Norbert Ratzlaff
works as the sales director. When asked
whether it is important to have someone
who acts as a go-between for sister and
husband, Karina Ratzlaff laughs: “We are
all very actively involved and a very lively
bunch of people.”
Norbert Ratzlaff is in charge of global sales.
He is very enthusiastic about his work.
Laughing, he shares a few anecdotes from
his early days with J. Köhle with us. He
originally hails from Berlin, but grew up in
Wildberg, a small town in the Black Forest.
“When I met my future wife while studying
business administration all I knew about
Pforzheim was that it was located alongside
interstate A8,” he remembers with a grin.
As soon as Karina had turned in her thesis,
the two got married. “I got to know and
learned to love the Köhle Family slowly but
in an intense manner during some holidays
spent together. I also grew quite fond of the
company in the same way,” the 54-year-old
recalls. That was, of course, a prerequisite for
even setting foot into the business. “To be
able lead such a company you have to do it
with immense passion,” his wife explains.
In his first few months with the enterprise,
Norbert Ratzlaff had to travel to the U.S. frequently. “It was quite frightening for me to
walk the streets of New York carrying such a
valuable collection with me.”
“Even today, I sometimes still
walk through the company just
to breathe in the air that is so
unique for our business.”
Joachim Köhle
Laughing, he recounts how he stowed the
collection into two Samsonite suitcases
when he got ready to take a trip and how
he fit them with an alarm system, including
loudspeakers and remote control units. “The
idea was that if someone was to grab the
suitcases and make a run for it, I would let
them get ahead 50 meters or so and press
the alarm button.” Fortunately, he never had
to use this system because the self-made
alarm did not actually work.
Joachim Köhle, the senior executive, still
grins when he hears such stories. It would
not have been difficult for him, the highly
talented craftsman and toolmaker. “It was
my father, Josef, who acquired the company, which was established in 1872, in 1919
and renamed it J. Köhle.” In the spring of
1955, his father handed over the rudders to
son Joachim for health reasons. The latter
evolved into a literal “self-made man.” Joachim acquired all of his knowledge through
self-study and attended school four times a
week at night while running the business to
obtain further valuable knowledge in all
„The apprenticeship sometimes
proved to be quite a challenge.
The artisans did not have a high
opinion of the industry.“
Margit Kühnel
business disciplines. His wife, her linguistic talents and business administrative
education turn out to be a lot of help as well.
Together, they establish their clasps and
their slogan “Your amazing link to the world
of jewellery” around the globe. Senior owner
Joachim Köhle comments on his affinity
for the company and the special smell of a
jewellery manufacturing site: “Even today, I
sometimes still walk through the company
just to breathe in the air that is so unique
for our business – if I don’t I just don’t feel
healthy!”
Just like her father, daughter Margit remained true to the craft. As the daughter of an
“industrialist” she ventured boldly into a
traditional goldsmith’s studio to learn her
craft. “It wasn’t always easy as the craftsmen
did not have a high opinion of the industry,”
recounts the now 48-year-old. But Margit
persisted and eventually registered with the
GIA (Gemmological Institute of America)
in Santa Monica to further her education.
Eventually she made the pioneering move
to install the first CAD work stations in
the industry at the company’s facilities in
Pforzheim. The Köhle daughters had previously already acquired basic programming
knowledge at Pforzheim’s business centred
high school and Margit obtained additional
information at related tradeshows. “For me
as a woman that was an easy feat back then.
Men thought that women were underdeveloped in terms of computers and were happy
to talk about the benefits of their machines
and the downsides of those of their competitors. After I’d attended several tradeshows
I had more information than some of the
technical staff of the companies selling the
product,” she recalls, laughing.
The trio at the helm of Köhle is definitely
ready for the future. It also appears to be a
safe bet to say that the next generation will
likely come on board in the future.
Caroline Schiedt