104 Wabash Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15220
Mon-Fri 9am-4pm EST |
Ray Gaber worked for Martin Gluck & Son Material Company selling watch parts and tools during the 1930s and early 1940s. In 1946 Mr Gluck’s son Edward returned from World War II and entered the business in a role of prominence, reducing the perceived future of Ray. He decided to start out on his own utilizing the knowledge he accumulated over the years at Gluck. None of the major watch companies at that time felt there was room for another watch material house in Pittsburgh (there were five in 1946.) Ray rented space in Youngstown, Ohio to take deliveries from the reluctant suppliers and unbeknownst to them, traveled to Pittsburgh daily to run his fledgling business. After a little more than one year had passed, the watch companies realized that Ray just might make a successful business in Pittsburgh and decided to start selling parts to him in Pennsylvania. These early years featured a robust business with Ray concentrating on and helping students from the watchmaking school located in Pittsburgh, Western Pennsylvania Horological Institute. Many of these former students would go on to have very successful careers and would support the Ray Gaber Company for decades.
The mid sixties found the Ray Gaber Company needing to relocate from the Century Building to the Penn Building just a few blocks away. The business continued to grow for the next several years. In 1970, Ray’s son, Denis Gaber would leave his trained vocation as a Civil Engineer to help run the watch parts company. The 1970s found expansion into many lines of finished jewelry to complement the original watch & jewelry parts & tools. Ray Gaber Company was run as a full line tool, parts, and jewelry wholesaler during the remainder of the 1970s and all through the 1980s. In 1982, a third generation, Chris Gaber was brought into the business.
By the late 1980s the wholesale jewelry industry had seen massive changes, with many exclusive jewelry wholesalers closing their doors altogether. Ray Gaber Company was not immune to these changes and found itself in financial difficulties by the early 1990s. In 1993, the company was dissolved with Denis and Chris Gaber starting a new venture, Gaber & Company USA. In 1995, Chris became President with Denis stepping into the chairman’s role. The new company would embrace the roots of Ray Gaber Company’s product mix concentrating on Watch & Jewelry Parts & Tools. Long time watch material employees came aboard to help continue decades-long relationships with many of Ray Gaber’s original customers. Dan Vanderpool whom came from another material house (Gluck ironically) started working for Ray in 1972, worked for Denis during the 1970s and 80s, and now works with Chris in the present day operation.
One footnote concerning the five material houses in existence during the 1940s that gave all of the watch manufacturers concern; by 1974 they were all out of business, leaving Ray Gaber Company as the sole surviving Watch Material House in Pittsburgh. The new century found Gaber & Company USA expanding into the world of E-commerce. New employees were brought on board to develop and expand this growing area of the business. Gaber & Company USA purchased its current headquarters located on Wabash Street in 2005.
Looking for opportunities to expand, the Gaber family (including Chris’s 2 brothers; not active in the business), purchased the Watch Parts division of the former Newall Manufacturing Company from Chicago, IL. Newall had been a master importer of watch parts in Chicago since 1909, selling to wholesalers and distributors all across North America. Newall had been owned and operated by two sets of multi-generational families, the Curetons and Wrights. The key watch material manager from Newall in Chicago, Tom McRoy, relocated to Pittsburgh to help run this new division of Gaber, now known as Newall Watch Materials. The Gaber family looks forward to a successful continuation of the Newall tradition, supplying watch material to all the fine material houses in North America.
Combining overhead expenses of two different segments in the watch material/jewelry repair trade has made both divisions stronger. Both the Watchmaker/Jeweler customers of the Gaber division and the Wholesaler Material House customers of the Newall division have benefited from increased service and performance.
Gaber & Company USA looks forward to a bright future for many years to come due to the company’s culture of treating the customer fairly, supplying a quality product, and providing supreme service in all possible scenarios.
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Gaber & Company USA is independent of and not affiliated with or sponsored by Rolex Watch USA, Inc.
The Rolex warranty does not apply to non-genuine replacement items supplied by Gaber & Company, USA.