Graff Just Opened a Stylish Jewelry Boutique in SoCal’s Biggest Mall
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In the world of diamonds, Graff is one of those names that if you know, you know. Founded by diamantaire Laurence Graff, a.k.a the “King of Diamonds,” in 1960 in London, the diamond jeweler has grown to include more than 60 salons worldwide stocked with the finest, largest rocks in the world.
Until recently, however, the brand preferred to fly under the radar, selling mega-diamonds to captains of industry and kings and queens of state without shouting its name too loudly. The opening last week of the brand’s ninth salon in the U.S. and its first truly new American boutique in over a decade—an 1,800-square-foot space in South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, Calif.—marks a new chapter in Graff’s retail direction.
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In addition to the brand’s continued focus on high jewelry—such as the spectacular diamond necklace on view at the salon, centered on a 50.08-carat D flawless Type IIA oval diamond accompanied by 100 carats of pear-shape, emerald-cut, oval, round, and baguette-cut stones—the new store also offers a broader selection of fine jewelry, including engagement and wedding rings and “collections” pieces brimming with everyday diamonds.
“Graff has been for 60-plus years a true high jeweler, stone driven, best of the best and that was Mr. Graff’s original vision,” Marc Hruschka, the CEO and president of Graff USA, told Robb Report during an interview at the new salon. “That’s our true north, if you will. At the same time, over the last decade or so, we’ve had pretty extraordinary demand in the bridal category. It really started in the Asia/Pacific market and become a true phenomenon for us globally.
“In order to have a collection you can show properly, you have to have a designated area in the store for that, which we’ve done here,” he said. “In addition, our everyday diamond collections — Butterfly, Wild Flower, Threads — start at $2,000 and go up from there. We have a lot of amazing and extraordinary high jewelry clients who always wanted to buy daywear from us, as gifts for birthdays or bat-mitzvahs.”
The high jewelry element, however, is still very much a focus. In a room adjacent to the main selling space sit displays and wall vitrines showcasing gala-appropriate jewels set with Colombian emeralds, unheated rubies and sapphires, and Type IIa diamonds (a gemological classification that denotes the finest, most limpid stones). Starting price? Around $135,000.
The salon includes a V.I.P. room located across from the entrance that is furnished with a couch, boucle armchairs, a coffee table made from travertine marble, and a desk, as well as a nook that houses Graff’s fragrance collection, which takes its inspiration from the spectacular 302.37-carat Graff Lesedi La Rona diamond.
The wider selection at the salon goes hand in hand with the brand’s more visible presence, which comes at a time in which the fine jewelry market is feeling its first chill since the heady days of the pandemic jewelry-buying frenzy.
“We all had the sector tailwinds of 2021 and 2022 but for us right now, even if the sector’s not rising, it’s a great market share moment for us,” Hruschka said. “We have an extraordinary opportunity for brand name awareness.
“We’re still relatively unknown by the general population,” he added. “We’re going to do that carefully because we can’t have this kind of jewelry everywhere, but we’re getting our voice, brand and image out there.”
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