By A. SCOTT WALTON
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
NEW YORK — To find the goods that jeweler Jacob Arabo is renowned for creating, walk to the back of his new, heavily guarded Manhattan flagship store.
There on the right side wall you see a display case that's laden with gaudy baubles. But it's dwarfed by his larger collection of more restrained pieces.
Arabo, 40, has thrived for nearly a decade on his reputation as the jeweler of choice for diamond-hoarding rappers. But he's a savvy enough businessman to know no one can stress a specialty for loading the necks, wrists and fingers of hip-hoppers and pro athletes with ludicrous amounts of "bling" forever.
"I'm already known as that," said Arabo, who's most often referred to in the press and in rap lyrics as "Jacob the Jeweler."
"I want to grow even bigger and have a Jacob & Co. in every major city in the world," he says. "I want to reach the point where [my watches] could be compared to the Patek Phillipes, Breguets and IWCs of the world. And I will reach that point in time."
Thanks to numerous shout outs from hip-hop artists, prominent red carpet placements and repeated references in the mainstream press, Arabo's name is now synonymous with "ice."
His diamond-encrusted, platinum creations scream ostentation. And, apparently, the larger-than-life personalities he caters to prefer it that way.
His celebrity client list is filled with stars ranging from David Beckham, Shaquille O'Neal and Bono to Atlanta residents Jermaine Dupri, Elton John and Ludacris.
Arabo's jewelry is distinctive, commonly featuring diamonds that have been chemically treated to take on shades of blue, gold, green and pink. His pieces alsostand out due to the sheer number of diamonds affixed to them or by their gemstones' size.
Michael O'Conner, trend analyst for the Platinum Guild of fine jewelry producers, credits Arabo for raising the public's awareness and demand for the most precious of metals.
"Jacob's work comes at a really timely point," he said. "There are a lot of people who are looking to express themselves, to say, 'Yes, I've arrived. I can afford the best. And I'm going to wear it.' Jacob helps them do that."
The favor he has curried with celebrities over the past decade helped elevate Arabo from humble headquarters in New York's dour Diamond District into the five-story retail townhouse at Fifth Avenue and 57th Street that he bought for $12.2 million last year.
Its interior design looks like an idealized mock-up of a diamond mine, with stratified rock walls well-suited to the store's cavernous floor plan. Just beyond the display case stocked with rapper-worthy regalia, there's a guarded, fortified glass door that opens into Jacob & Co.'s leather and laquered wood VIP lounge — for those who can afford to shop out of public view.
"I see this as my chance to display all the merchandise I didn't have enough space to show in my old place," Arabo said.
The new location — in Manhattan's most exclusive shopping sector — places his business within walking distance of such prestigious retailers as Prada, Louis Vuitton, Bergdorf Goodman and Buccellati Jewelers, as well as totony hotels like Le Parker Meridien and the Four Seasons.
Going forward, Arabo's mission is to expand his client base. Diamond jewelry that carries astronomically high price tags will always appeal to a limited market, but he sees possibilities for attracting a more traditional high-end jewelry customer.
"I was a jeweler for 22 years before the entertainment crowd discovered me, and I'll be a jeweler for a long time afterward."
Alan Ensari, who sells $11,000-$45,000 timepieces by Arabo at his AmericasMart showroom, Italian Gold and Diamond, observed: "That shop in New York gives him a lot of credibility. It shows he's not going anywhere."
"The typical Harry Winston clients might not be going to his office," Ensari added, "but his clients aren't going to Harry Winston either. He's very focused on who he's selling to."
Pieces like Arabo's $380,000 heart-shaped pendant, $440,000 bracelet and limited-edition Tourbillon watches ($195,000-$245,000) actually outnumber the $10,000-$20,000 pairs of diamond-covered dice, the $9,600 dog tags and $13,600 fist-sized crucifixes.
"Jacob's smart about changing his flavor with the times. He's going more in the direction of colored diamonds that the ladies like."
Like a diamond, which requires centuries of geological compression to morph out of common carbon, Arabo needed time to achieve household name status.
He emigrated to the United States from his native Uzbekistan in 1979, studied jewelry design in Manhattan and set up a Spartan shop in the Diamond District, where he learned to specialize in custom requests.
Atlanta-based R&B singer Faith Evans is most often credited with "discovering" Arabo in the mid-'90s and launching his career catering to the hip-hop crowd. Arabo himself credits Sean "P. Diddy" Combs for dubbing him"the Jeweler."
His career crystalized once A-list athletes and a legion of headline-grabbing celebrities started coming to get their wrists, fingers, ears and necks packed with rocks too big and pricey to be ignored.
But Arabo seems non-plused when conversation turns to his A-List clientele and the pieces they request of him.
"Five minutes ago, I was sitting across from Jessica Simpson, watching her sister [Ashlee] performing on MTV, while at the same time she was buying a $150,000 pair of earrings," he said in a cool, detached manner.
Plucking a small cluster of cherries from a fresh fruit tray in the VIP lounge, he remarked: "If you want this " — cast in platinum and adorned with your choice of colored diamonds — "I can make that for you too."
Eagerness to please his clients got Arabo into a spate of legal trouble late last year with the Cartier jewelry company. The company filed copyright infringement charges against Arabo for adding additional diamonds to Cartier watches — at the customers' request. The lawsuit was settled out of court on March 15, with Arabo issuing a statement of apology.
Arabo also entered into a limited licensing agreement to produce watches for the clothing label, Royalty, operated by the rapper Lil' Kim. He declined to comment on how Lil Kim's recent conviction on grand jury perjury charges might affect the agreement.
Arabo thinks of himself as a designer first, and a merchant second. After conversation turned to his own preferred mode of dress ("Armani Black Label, always"), he walked to a storage closet and returned with an item that won't reach upscale retail outlets like Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman until summer or fall.
It was a prototype of his brand's first sneaker; but not just any sneaker. He said they'll retail for $3,000 per pair, and here's why: "I've made them so that you can unscrew the diamond bezel from your watch and screw it back on here on the side of the shoe."
"I've had the idea for a while, but it took time to find the right shoe that felt comfortable enough walking in. I don't do anything just for show. When I do something, I do it right."
No comments:
Post a Comment