As one of the oldest towns in South Africa Caledon has a rich cultural history and has over the years produced its share of well-known and interesting people, Allan Bowe being one of them.
It’s quite possible most people never heard of Allan Bowe, but his story is interesting and merits being told. His father Henry was a British surgeon who, after a stint in Australia, emigrated to South Africa with his wife and daughter and settled on a rented farm in Caledon.
Eldest son Allan was born there on 2 December 1856. From Caledon the Bowes moved to Namaqualand, where their sons Charles and John were born. Allan spent his adolescence in Springbok, then called Springfontein. After their parents’ death the Bowe siblings moved to England.
Bowe, not trained as a jeweller, joined a relative’s jewellery business in Russia. He had lived in Russia for several years before negotiations to join the well-known jeweller Carl Fabergé began. Fabergé referred to him as his partner Allan Andreyevich Bo. For 14 years Bowe managed all the business there, and later, with the help of his younger brother, founded and co-owned the first branches outside St Petersburg. He was the main representative outside St Petersburg.
During frequent trips to London Bowe negotiated the purchase of South African diamonds and British sterling silver for Fabergé. In 1903 he opened a branch in London, managed by one of his brothers.
Bowe’s collaboration with Fabergé over two decades resulted in Fabergé becoming the largest jewellery manufacturer in Russia, with jewellery pieces and the well-known Fabergé decorated eggs becoming sought-after items by royalty as well as collectors worldwide.
Industrial strikes caused Fabergé considerable financial losses, and the partners subsequently signed a deed of separation in 1906.
Later that year Bowe sold his London shop to a rival jeweller, leaving Fabergé feeling betrayed by Bowe.
Afterwards, Bowe dabbled in various businesses, travelling extensively, but he never visited South Africa again as it was outside his sphere of business interest. Bowe died in England in 1939.Sources: Society of Jewellery Historians and the Caledon Museum.
