Background
Paterson Jewellery was originally established as K. A. Paterson Pty Ltd by Keith Armour Paterson in 1935. Joined by brother John and wife Phyllis, K. A. Paterson grew to specialise in opal castings and children’s jewellery. It was a small yet successful business limited by staff and a small product range.
The company was taken over by Keith’s son Ross when Keith retired due to illness in 1972. Ross realised that to expand the company he needed to increase the product range and he soon had hundreds of different styles of Opal jewellery, which he took to the retailers all over Australia.
Once these companies took up the ‘FIREGEM’ Opal range, the business expanded and with increased staff Paterson Jewellery soon developed other areas of the product range to include lockets and bracelets and in particular the children’s jewellery range trademarked ‘LITTLE GYPSY’. The Little Gypsy range of inexpensive signet rings and gold plated hoop earrings were soon run by nearly every retailer in Australia.