Graff Debuts First Stand-alone Store in Southern California
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
For the first time in 10 years, Graff has opened a new store in the United States for its collection of high-end jewelry designed in London since its founding in 1960.
The new location, unveiled on Monday, is at South Coast Plaza, the luxury-oriented shopping center 50 miles south of Los Angeles in Costa Mesa, Calif.
More from WWD
UTA Artist Space Director Zuzanna Ciolek on the L.A. Art Scene
300-year-old Weathered Fabric Forms the Backbone of a Los Angeles Art Installation
Beyond Yoga Stretches Its Retail Expansion With First Northern California Store
“We have been waiting for the right location to become available,” explained Marc Hruschka, president and chief executive officer of Graff USA. “Being a privately owned company, we do things carefully and strategically. It has never been about mass expansion but quality. South Coast Plaza was a target for a long time.”
Until now, Graff had no freestanding stores in Southern California. It operates a leased location within Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills and has an independent store near Union Square in San Francisco. But the company is actively looking for a stand-alone outpost in Beverly Hills. “Rodeo Drive is certainly on our list of places we should have a Graff boutique or salon,” Hruschka said.
Graff is known for its rare and distinctive diamonds cut and polished in South Africa and fashioned into jewelry in London where the luxury house was founded by Laurence Graff, the company’s chairman. Some of its exceptional diamonds include the 302.37-carat Graff Lesedi La Rona, unveiled in 2019 as the world’s largest square emerald-cut diamond.
The rough stone unearthed in Botswana was acquired in 2017 in a $53 million deal negotiated by Laurence Graff with a handshake. The deal was done with the Canadian mining company Lucara Diamond Corp. At the time, the diamond weighed 1,109 carats and was the size of a tennis ball.
For the store opening, Graff is displaying, for the first time in the United States, a unique necklace made of 100 carats of white diamonds surrounding a rare 50-carat D flawless oval diamond. It will add to the new look of the jewelry store located in a prime location inside South Coast Plaza, developed in 1967 by the Segerstrom family. Five decades later, the freeway-adjacent shopping mecca, originally anchored by Sears and May Co., has grown and evolved into a venue whose stores are dominated by the luxury category.
Graff’s neighbors include Harry Winston, Prada and Cartier. The 1,800-square-foot store is incorporating a new store design that will be implemented in upcoming new outposts and store remodels.
“We have pivoted to a global store design that highlights our three product pillars: high jewelry and large single-stone items, that are the core DNA of the brand. In the past several years, we have also added bridal, which is a significant category of wedding bands and engagement rings. And then there is the diamond collections, which include the Butterfly, the Wildflower and Threads collections, where you can start at $5,000 for a piece of jewelry and go up from there,” Hruschka explained. “Our new store design evolution will allow all three categories to be displayed properly and highlighted properly with clear separations in the store.”
In the past, the ideal Graff store was 1,200 square feet, but with more separated areas, 1,800 square feet could be the norm. The high jewelry section is tucked away in a private area where customers can view exclusive items.
Graff is still family owned. Francois Graff, Laurence’s son, is the company’s CEO and was scheduled to be at the South Coast Plaza store’s opening. After South Coast Plaza, Graff is slated to roll out over the next 18 months at least six more locations worldwide to add to its lineup of 60 stores, the company said.
Best of WWD
