Few individuals in the American watch and jewelry market are as steeped in the industry as Steven Holtzman.
As son of Seymour Holtzman, a serial entrepreneur and business big shot with NYSE-listed jewelers on his resume, Steven grew up surrounded by fine jewelry and watches.
He soon found his own niche with Helvetia Time Corp in the 1990s, which distributed a number of independent Swiss watch brands, and in 1999 he founded Roger Dubuis North America to handle the brand’s partnerships across the USA, Canada, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.
Having supported several top end watchmakers, he switched to creating his own; moving to Switzerland to launch Maîtres du Temps in 2005, an ultra-high end brand that benefited from contributions from some of the best independent watchmakers in Switzerland at the time.
Steven sold Maîtres du Temps in 2020 and moved back to the United States to take over the running of C. D. Peacock, Chicago’s longest-serving jeweler, which was established in 1837 and is owned by his father.
Steven and his wife Qi — a former principal dancer for the Beijing Ballet — run the business together and are working on an ambitious plan to open a massive multi-brand showroom in Oakbrook Center next year.
“The 20,500 square-foot building will be state of the art and offer clients unique and unexpected experiences in the watch and jewelry space,” says Steven.
“Along with the physical change of our retail space is the cultural change which Qi is spearheading.”
