Hans C. Kionka

Hans (Johannes) C. Kionka

Diamond merchant at 206 Broadway NYC in the 1920's • business known at one time as Kionka-Hamburger Company

history & successor business of Kionka Diamonds

Kimberley Diamond Co.'s long history in the jewelry industry is intricately linked to a street that was once the center of the U.S. jewelry and watch industry: Maiden Lane, a small winding passage close to Wall Street in lower Manhattan. Until it was supplanted by the industry's slow but steady move uptown during the 20th century, Maiden Lane and adjoining streets teemed with wholesalers representing the finest companies from the U.S. and overseas. In 1900, German immigrant H.C. Kionka founded a diamond distributor on the busy street. Originally named for Kionka, it later became known as Kimberley Diamond Co., in homage to the South African city where diamonds were discovered in the 19th century.

In 1928, Kionka hired Albert Levy as a messenger. The next year, the stock market crashed, leading to the Great Depression. The economic downturn hit the diamond industry particularly hard. "My father kept his job because he was just a kid and drew a small paycheck," says Mark Levy, president of the company today. Eventually, Albert Levy sold diamonds for the company as the country recovered from the Depression only to face World War II. It was a busy time for diamond sellers, however, because many couples married before soldiers went off to war. "My father said jewelers would be clamoring for engagement rings," says Mark Levy. "When my father went into a store, the jeweler would push aside customers to make way, saying 'customers I have plenty of – here's the guy with the goods!'" Kionka died in 1950 and Albert Levy took the offered option to buy the business. He kept the company on Maiden Lane. Today, in fact, Kimberley Diamond Co. is the only jewelry company left in what was originally called the Silversmiths Building. Albert's sons, Robert and Mark, eventually joined the business. Albert retired in 1978. Robert retired in 1998 and Mark continues as president. Mark Baum joined the company in 1998 as vice president.

•had a neice Rose Marie Gaertner (1920-?) The evidence in this case showed that Hans C. Kionka and wife, Anna Z. Kionka, in 1948, requested Mr. Kionka's niece, Rose Marie Gaertner, a registered nurse, 28 years of age, residing in Germany, to come to this country to live with them in their household as a member of their family. The Kionka's had no children of their own although they had previously legally adopted Margaret Ann Hebbard, petitioner below, in 1918.