Early last week, I spent some time at Tacori's Los Angeles headquarters, where the brand was hosting a "Club Tacori" event for some of its best retailers (more on all the goings-on to come). I kicked off Monday morning in...
Early last week, I spent some time at Tacori's Los Angeles headquarters, where the brand was hosting a "Club Tacori" event for some of its best retailers (more on all the goings-on to come).
I kicked off Monday morning in my rental car—driving between appointments in L.A. is quite a different beast than the usual New York subway trips—and soon after embarked upon a tour of the brand's expanded facilities.
Shortly before the Las Vegas shows this year, Tacori opened a new 5,000-square-foot wing. Now, with a total of 16,000 square feet, the brand has a showroom for celebrity visits (fans include The Bachelorette's Trista and Ryan, Jessica Alba and Brooke Shields, among others), new offices for all the customer service and quality control reps, and separate spaces for the diamond setters and goldsmiths hard at work.
Tacori truly made the event a family one, and I could see how exciting it was for the retailers and buyers to put names to faces and meet some of the people they've spent so much time with on the phone, not only the Tacorians themselves, but all the individuals who handle marketing and orders and make the company run on a day-to-day basis.
Check out some of these images for a few highlights. To see a larger view, just click on the photos:
“The Tacori Boutique”
A small boutique, like the branded ones some retailers have in their own stores, is where celebrities visiting the Tacori headquarters can check out jewelry privately.
The diamond room
It’s the place where the diamonds are matched and selected, from large stones to the tiniest of sparklers.
Goldsmith design studio
Craftsmen here bring all the details of the brand’s wedding bands and engagement rings to life. The studio includes a large room where all the metal work takes place, and there's also a connecting design library of archives, a CAD/CAM laboratory where the designs and plastic molds are created, and the central casting room, where all the baking and casting happens.
Diamond-setting studio
Craftsmen here set the tiniest of diamonds into Tacori’s pave bands and engagement rings, making for pieces like this partially completed ring seen above. Forensic goldsmiths work here as well, inspecting pieces in need of repairs, and polishers work on the final buffing at a special shine station. In addition, the space houses
Tacori's "Quality Excellence" team, where each order is passed from hand to hand, reviewed and approved before being sent out.
'18K925'
From sketches to finished pieces, the “18K925” collection of silver and gold designs was years in the making. The collection is available only to Tacori’s "Passion Partner" retailers through the holidays, but will be opened up early next year for wider distribution.
Michelle Graffis the editor-in-chief at National Jeweler, directing the publication’s coverage both online and in print.
