Gisela and Detlef Menard started a business to distribute antique style jewellery in 1981 in Steinfurt, a town north-west of Münster, in North Rhine-Westphalia. At the beginning of the 1990s, they expanded their range with a new line marked by simplicity. The company with the name affix "Passé & Aktuell" (i.e. "Historical & Contemporary") stands for a certain philosophy: when looking for the new, don't forget the old. For example, the Menards use established manufacturing locations like Pforzheim, where most of their collection has been produced for more than 20 years. However, a few pieces come from workshops in neighbouring countries in Europe.
The Menards' name several reasons for their decision to keep the production in Europe and not to relocate in Asia (unlike many other manufacturers): first of all the "exceptional craftwork training" and the resulting quality of the sophisticated products, next to the short delivery distances, and, last but not least, the strict environmental regulations in Germany. "We understand sustainability as an integrated concept and challenge we accept", they explain. Procuring raw materials increasingly from sustainable sources is part of that commitment, too.