Our History

Humble Beginnings

John & Sandy Bonifas were high school sweethearts born and raised in Monroe, Michigan. At 16 years old, John landed his first job working at a jewelry store in 1965. His duties included emptying the ashtrays and sweeping the floor.

As time went on, he learned to resize bracelets, then rings. Eventually he was promoted to sales associate. After earning a college degree and getting married, John & Sandy opened small jewelry shops in Monroe, Toledo, St. Louis, Denver and La Jolla.

A Legacy Begins

In 1987 when Clint Eastwood was mayor of Carmel, John and Sandy Bonifas sold everything in order to purchase Fourtané Jewelers in Carmel-by-the-Sea from Loyola Fourtané, who had established the shop in 1950 after relocating from her well-known art community of Sausalito. Loyola’s designs were exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum and Fourtané soon became known as a destination for one-of-a-kind antique and estate jewelry pieces.

The Rolex Crown

In 1996, John & Sandy’s son, Josh, moved by his passion for vintage timepieces and for Rolex and its history specifically, created a watch department at Fourtané. After growing both the watch and jewelry businesses, Fourtané became an authorized Rolex agent in 2002. This was the same year Rolex began sponsoring the historic automotive races at Laguna Seca, now known as the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion.