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Austin, TX--Founded in 1973, Korman Fine Jewelry has made its mark on the Austin community while growing from a one-man shop to a full-service premiere jewelry retailer. After many moves over the years, current owners, Kat and Larry Stokes, are planning to open a new 11,000-square-foot store in Austin’s Pemberton Heights neighborhood in the summer of 2024. The site is very close to the place where the jeweler began.

[Kat and Larry Stokes, owners of Korman Fine Jewelry]

Korman Fine Jewelry was founded by Russell “Rusty” Korman. He began his business as a hobby selling strands of African beads while attending the University of Texas. Korman earned $40,000 in his first year and realized that his hobby could become a career. He began selling to local retailers and quickly earned enough money to open his first store on the University of Texas campus. He relocated his store several times through the years before settling at 38th and Lamar streets, just outside the Central Park Shopping Center. He remained there for 22 years. He hired an in-house bench jeweler and watchmaker, beaders threading necklaces of gold and onyx and hosting a growing inventory of Swiss timepieces. He brought in Italian jewelry designers, Marco Bicego and Roberto Coin and in 2011, partnered with Rolex. His growth caused him to relocate once again in 2013 to its current location nearby at 5011 Burnet Road.

In 2018, Korman and his partners sold the business to current owners Kat and Larry Stokes. They maintained the name of the store and added the motto “Celebrate Every Day.” They partnered with organizations both in the community and industry and is the only destination for the official University of Texas diamond longhorn necklace.

In 2019, the store launched Korman Magazine, which continues to be published annually. New jewelry designers include Walters Faith, Single Stone, Oscar Heyman and Fope. The new owners partnered with a global network of diamond distributors and sightholder, Grandview Klein. Because of this in August 2022, Kat and Larry Stokes were one of eight jewelers in the country to go on a Namibian diamond safari, following every step a diamond takes before it is placed on store shelves.

Today, Korman’s story is set to begin a new chapter while maintain it ties to the Auston community.