Raymond C. Yard was born in New Jersey in 1885. His business career started at age 13 as a door boy at Marcus & Co. Before he was twenty he had graduated to pearl stringer then to salesman. In 1922, Yard opened Raymond Yard, Inc. on Fifth Avenue in NYC where it remains - albeit having moved location four different times since 1922. Company policy has always been to shy away from advertising, creating a mystique about the luxury firm that attracted many clients including the east coast leading social families. Raymond Yard retired in 1958, but the firm's tradition of fine jewelry design and manufacture continues today under the leadership of Robert Gibson.