David the Jeweler vs Corporate Goliath

The recent acquisition of two Italian jewelry brands, Vhernier by Richemont and Roberto Coin by Watches of Switzerland, is yet another blow into the Italian jewelry industry, with the continuing erosion of assets by French and Swiss global corporations. Surely, the companies and their employees will enjoy a new and more comfortable life within a portfolio of financially sound holding companies, ensuring growth and long term vision. Italy has already lost in the past decade legacy brands such as Buccellati, Bulgari and Pomellato. With the founders out of the game, all brands evolved into something else, bigger, wealthier but definitely less human. Bulgari alone is expanding, thanks to the mighty influx of LVMH unlimited resources, its manufacturing facility to a whopping 1000+ workers. One thousand people under one roof making snakes in gold and diamonds.

Of course, it brings more jobs to Italian artisans from all over the Country, and with that financial stability for thousands of families. But it is also disrupting a healthy artisanal ecosystem and lifestyle where craftsmen don't feel like factory workers.

Until one day, the real owner of the Company or the future one, will decide that maybe it could be more efficient to move the manufacturing to France or Thailand or wherever better conditions will be presented.

Without the territorial attachment to the founders, that invisible thread kept together for generations, it is understandable that a new CEO will only take decisions based on numbers, and the bottom line.For small, independent, artisan companies those big names  (Bulgari , Buccellati…Vehrnier) were not simply competitors, but examples to aspire to, leaders from our same cultural and territorial upbringing to follow and look up to.

‘’If they made it, we can too’’ kind of mentality.

Now those brands are part of a bigger financial game, galaxies away from us living  and breathing gold and gemstones, and doing it as a mission to keep a legacy alive. Italy is probably the one Country that gave the world the most jewelry in history, having mastered the craft for centuries if not millennia; no other Country in the world can boast the rich history in artisanship as Italy, and still today Italians are the true and only Kings of Craftsmanship: think about fashion, jewelry, pottery, furniture, gastronomy !

A cultural treasure up for grabs. But this will slowly but inevitably lead to the end of an illustrious tradition.

In 2005, when our company was only 3 years old, Roberto and I were approached by the CEO of one of the most prestigious  jewelry houses in the world, asking us to meet for coffee: We couldn’t be more honored and excited, especially when we found out he wanted to visit our Showroom and learn about our young yet already successful story.

The day of the visit, he showed up with two other gentlemen, who clearly had very little interest in jewelry as a form of art: Very serious executives from Geneva, colleagues from the parent company, who quickly proceeded to let us know the true reason of their visit. ‘’We like your brand and want to buy it’’.

Roberto and I looked at each other very surprised, not expecting at all to hear those words. After a few seconds, I just uttered one word ‘’Why?’’ (the impostor’s syndrome i still suffer from).

Apparently, they had big plans at the time, to acquire small ‘’rising stars’’ of the jewelry design world and turn them into global brands within their portfolio of mega brands. In essence, they added, ‘’we want to build the brands of the future’’. Honored and excited, we shook hands and started to work on the due diligence, business plan, and a lot of things we never even heard of before, we didn’t understand and had no clue of how to put together. We spent a blissful year working on what they needed, visiting them in Geneva, lunches, dinners, black tie galas, corporate meetings and big dreams.

Our lives were about to change, for good and forever.

Until one day, flipping through the pages of a Japanese fashion magazine, I see our jewelry on a model…except it was not our brand, but one recently acquired by the same group we were in talks with! Shocked and quite hurt, we immediately reached out to the executives who had been working on our deal, to ask questions and demand a solution. We would have probably been happy with a simple ‘’That’s horrible, let me look into this don’t worry’’. Instead, he only said ‘’Don’t worry about it, you are part of the family now.’’ What he really meant was ‘’We don’t care, don’t bother me’’. To that we answered ‘’We are not your family yet and one of your brands just copied our entire and most iconic signature collection’’.

A cease and desist letter ensued, hoping they would stop there. Instead they decided to deny the obvious, forcing us to sue the brand and the parent company too. Something we didn’t want to do, but our trademark design was all we had at the time, and after a year spent telling them everything about our business, our plans, our trade secrets…we felt betrayed, fooled, stabbed in the back.

A gruesome lawsuit lasted 3 years, through oppositions, denials, heart breaking cross examinations. And of course billable hours we didn’t know that could add up to millions …..We were drained, in every sense.

It was going to be a ‘’David vs Goliath’’ type of trial, but I couldn’t wait to have my day in court and tell my story. They were terrified by that public exposure.

A month before trial their CEO and I met in a coffee shop on 5th Avenue, and decided that it was time to come to an amicable solution. An agreement was reached, the nightmare was over.

We stayed small and independent and successfully protected our signature ‘’Stella’’ Collection that we almost lost. We also received the status of ‘’Trade Dress’’ for that collection. The end.

But was it worth the pain and stress we suffered all along ? People said ‘’You should have just closed the deal and run with their money’’.

But we took the higher road, stuck to our principles and fought for our Intellectual Property as if our lives depended on that.

I still don’t know if it was the best decision, but I am proud of those two young Italian Designers who stood up against the largest luxury conglomerate instead of selling their soul.

It is certainly hard to keep up with a competition that can afford billions in marketing, influencing the whole world to wear the same product and still calling it “luxury”.

But I still believe in the power of authenticity.

And I still believe in David, not in Goliath.