Letter from Founder and President

WALTHAM, MA, USA, May, 2002 — After 20 years, Dendritics Incorporated reached its original goal to be the worldwide leader in portable carat scales and has therefore ceased manufacturing.

"We did it," founder and CEO John Borchard said. "Back when I started this company, I vowed that we would revolutionize the way gems are weighed. Well, we’ve done it."

When he launched the company in 1982, Borchard (known as JB) drew up a list of corporate goals. These included making Dendritics the world's most trusted name in portable gemscales, the industry leader for customer service, and a model for small-scale domestic manufacturing in the USA.

After a 9-year development period, Dendritics sold its first Gemscale at Tucson in 1991, created and trademarked the name "Gemscale", and the rest (as they say) was history. Now, most gem dealers have not one, but two or even several portable carat scales.

The decision to cease manufacturing came after learning that the company had passed Tanita, Nexus, Acculab, Setra, Sartorius, Mettler, Ohaus and A&D combined as the premier worldwide provider of portable carat scales.

JB describes that moment. "Marian Dioguardi, my Operations Manager, walked into my office with this great smile on her face shouting ‘We finally did it. We met all our goals. Everyone who wants one has one.’"

Though JB said he is proud and thrilled that his company reached its goals, he still feels a little disappointed that it's all over. "I know it is the end of an era for us, but it was very demanding. I’m an inventor, and no matter how much I love our Gemscales, I need the freedom to create other creatures. We have all been so focused on making perfect Gemscales that we didn’t stop to smell the flowers."

Although he is responsible for the company’s conception and much of the product’s design, JB emphasized that he is not solely responsible for the Gemscales’ successes. "We have had incredible people, robots and animals contributing to Dendritics over the years."

He emphasized that although Dendritics has ceased manufacturing new scales, it has no intention of going out of business, will honor all warranties, and will continue to attempt repairs on out-of-warranty scales. Dendritics will continue as a Research and Development company.