The creative force behind de Grisogono

Lara Mansour   |   08-09-2016

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Founder and Creative Director of de Grisogono, FAWAZ GRUOSI is charismatic and daring. He’s a man that takes risks and follows his passions. A&E caught up with him over coffee in Paris to talk about how it all began, his lessons learned and his drive for creative design.

What’s coming up for de Grisogono in the next few months?

There is always something coming up. We are trying to put up collections that will surprise people. We don’t want new collections to look similar to what we have already done. As usual, during the course of the year I create about 15 collections and at the end I choose four lines. You will see so many different things coming up.  For the retro-style watches, we launched last year, we made a ladies one only smaller but it had the same shape with stones: diamonds, sapphires and rubies. Lovivi, named after my youngest daughter Violetta, is a lovely little watch that looks like a bracelet. It’s a modern classic that is totally unusual. It’s a watch but also a bracelet. This year we will present it officially.

How challenging is it for you to come up with new novelties and make space for them where the luxury and retail industries are suffering?

Among each brand there is a CEO and 99 per cent of the CEOs existing these days don’t come from the jewellery or watch industries, they come from financial institutions, marketing and banking sectors. Their mind is set on the stock market. What investors want is to make profit and this is what is happening.  There is no passion for the pieces. They’ve never tried to touch a piece or make any jewellery. For one brand, they may sell a minimum of 1,100 rings, yet they produce 60,000. They end up with thousands of the same objects worldwide. New clients say they are fed up of companies like these because these products are something that everyone has. People think, why should they spend money on something that isn’t original, different or unique?

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Lovivi Watches

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Folies Collection

How did de Grisogono come to life?

I launched in 1993. I use to work with Harry Winston then Bulgari, when both brands were at the top of its game. I loved working for Harry Winston. I was sent to Saudi Arabia in 1978 until 1982. For the first 3 months it was a nightmare. I didn’t speak the language and had a collaborator and nothing was going on. I spent my days going back to my hotel and calling everyone in Europe. One day at a restaurant, I saw a beautiful blonde, she asked me if I liked living in Jeddah and I said I didn’t because I didn’t know anyone. That night, she invited me to a dinner party. I was picked up by a man who took me to a house in the middle of nowhere. I was a bit scared actually. I met her boyfriend and her friends and that night changed my life totally.

I began to enjoy Jeddah. I was going to the office for two hours a day and I was always with them for lunch and dinner; then I started to get new business. People wanted gifts for friends, family, work associates and ministers. Back then, on a bad day I sold half a million US dollars and on a good day I sold 8.2 million US dollars. The company asked me to stay longer. I said I would think about it as I had already lost contact with reality living there. Life was easy. I did it for another three years. I moved after and Bulgari hired me. They offered me a position to be vice president, worldwide. There weren’t many existing shops then but now they have over 300 globally. I was always travelling and living in hotels all over the world. I had a good life. I worked with them for up to eight years. I resigned because there was jealousy in the family with two of the brothers so I left and I was so depressed about it. But I realised that I had worked for the best so I could work anywhere. I sold stones to people that I knew.  I opened a shop but I didn’t have enough money so I found two friends to open it with. I was lost and scared about it. After opening, I decided to design. My associates thought I was out of my mind. We fought about it and they didn’t support the idea so I bought them out. That is how it started.

You are always in the spotlight but I think you are calm, quiet and shy. What can you tell us about your character? You are the face of brand, but what about the person behind it?

I’ve always been sociable from the very beginning. When I launched the brand, actresses like Sophia Loren came to the opening along with local newspapers. I was proud of my achievements. After about five months I hired great US music artists for events at the best clubs. 600 people came to them. All were very rich people. We hired a PR, got models to attend and all of these things served the brand.

The brand and I are inseparable. It is me.

Am I extremely shy? Well, I never remember names. Today, I had lunch with people and I didn’t know who I was talking to. I become an actor most of the time. I act and pretend but I don’t remember names. On my phone I do not know who is who. I hate to sell nowadays. I haven’t for many years. I don’t want to be in the public eye so much.

Any regrets?

I am proud of myself and that I had the courage to start this company. I knew I was going somewhere and once it started the success was fast. After three years I had opened two more shops. I don’t have so much freedom now and I have a lot of responsibilities. I lost friends. I still see them but it is not the same anymore. I used to see them everyday. I regret losing contact with them. Same with my daughters, I see them but it is not very often, and I regret that too.

Any life lessons you want to share or mottos you live by?

If you have an idea and you believe in it just do it.  I had an idea to launch the brand and I just did it. When I have a feeling I go with my intuition and I am often right. I have passion for my beliefs. But today it is harder to just do things with a big brand since I have to go through so many people with an idea and convince all of them that we can’t just go with numbers.

September 2016 marks our 10-year anniversary for A&E, what was your objective for the first 10 years of de Grisogono?

My first 10 years’ objective was to STOP working, to be so successful to stop working and enjoy life. And then I realised I love my work and  never want it to stop! Congratulations  Adam & Eve.

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