Hyde Park Jewelers co-founder and chief executive officer, Steven Rosdal, has announced his retirement. Rosdal will move to chairman emeritus of the Denver-based jewelry retailer.

While no longer involved in the daily operations, Rosdal will continue to be involved in Hyde Park’s philanthropies and sponsorships as an active member of Hyde Park’s Diamonds in the Rough Foundation. In addition, Rosdal will work in a new capacity as director of Hyde Park’s Private Client Group, consulting with clients past and present that have enjoyed working with him through the years.

Cofounder Michael Pollak will assume the role of CEO and Shereen Pollak will become president of Hyde Park Jewelers. Hyde Park Jewelers has stores in Denver, Phoenix, and Las Vegas.

“I have been very fortunate over the last 33 years,” said Steven Rosdal. “I have had a number of great opportunities; co-founding and building Hyde Park, and partnering with Michael and Shereen Pollak being two of the most memorable and rewarding. Now I look forward to my next great opportunity—retirement.”

“We look forward with great enthusiasm to exciting new growth opportunities for our company,” said Michael Pollak, “and a continuation of serving our wonderful customers and community.”

Rosdal founded the Turquoise Trading Company in 1973, and in 1974 invited Michael Pollak, to join him in his new endeavor. Pollak and Rosdal converted their assets from The Turquoise Trading Company to Hyde Park Inc. in 1976. Rosdal and Pollak began their careers selling turquoise to specialty stores, including Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue throughout the U.S. and in eight European countries.

Without any industry credit history or experience of operations, the partners were a virtual unknown entity in the field of fine jewelry. Hyde Park’s first year revenue was $144,000. Today, Hyde Park Jewelers is one of the leading independent jewelers in the U.S.

Hyde Park’s first location was in Denver. In 1976 Hyde Park was established as a contemporary fashion jewelry boutique with only 2 employees. In 1978 they added a watch and diamond room, and a jewelry repair shop. The following year designer Philip Stone joined the Hyde Park team, a master jeweler who studied at the Sir John Cass School of Art in London, England, where he was trained by Cartier jewelers. Stone later designed the official Key to the State of Colorado. In 1980 Igor Bodin joined Hyde Park as master watchmaker.

Today, Hyde Park’s flagship store is a 10,000-square-foot facility in Denver’s Cherry Creek Shopping Center. The store features a diamond boutique, Patek Philippe salon, and a GemVision Lab, a computer-based design system that allows the jeweler and client to create custom jewelry with CAD driven software. Hyde Park has two additional locations, one in Phoenix, located in Biltmore Fashion Park, and a store in the Forum Shops at Caesars in Las Vegas.

JCK