In 1873 Emilie the eldest of the Lacloche siblings married Joseph Cohen, at the time of the marriage Joseph was a merchant, selling textiles however by 1890 Joseph was selling fine Dutch gems.

A year or so later Jacques Lacloche, Joseph’s brother-in-law, was working for Joseph and traveling in Mexico. Joseph is now recorded as an established jeweller.

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In 1902 Joseph went to Paris and then, in 1904, there is the first mention of Coven-Lacloche jewellers at Rue de la Paix 20. The business continued in Paris until 1908.

A possible reason for the closure of the Paris store may be the loss of pearls as reported by the local papers in May 1908. Apparently Mr Coven-Lacloche had visited Grand Hotel, Place Vendome to sell a large parcel of pearls. A string of pearls were lost during the visit and subsequently found by a Miss Giraudeau who then tried to sell them and was arrested. However she took refuge in Turkey and given a two year prison sentence by default.

It’s not yet clear if Coven-Lacloche continued trading from Paris after 1908, some information suggests they did but this is yet to be researched.

In Jul 1911 Joseph travelled to Argentina, his wife Emilie had died the previous year. It would seem that this visit was the start of Coven-Lacloche in Buenos Aires.

Just over a year later, Coven-Lacloche received a special order to create a new crown for the statue if the Virgin Mary as authorised by the Pope. This was to commemorate the Battle of Tucuman, that led to the independence in 1816.