PROFILE
The king
OF
CUFFLINKS
From investment banker to
international jewellery designer,
Robert Tateossian’s ascent to the
top of the global cufflinks
market was never conventional.
Sophie Bishop meets the king of
cufflinks
W
ITH A DEGREE in international pairs.” The collection sold out within weeks and
finance from Wharton School when Harrods called back a few months later
of Finance and seven years enquiring if there was a follow up collection,
working at Merrill Lynch under Robert had all the encouragement he needed to
his belt, it’s fair to say that the quit the nine to five job and embark on a career in
young Robert Tateossian did not set out to be a jewellery.
jewellery designer. Instead, the name behind “I wanted to get out of banking and this seemed
luxury accessories brand Tateossian says that his like the perfect stepping stone,” says Robert. “I’ve
entrée into the world of cufflinks came about always loved travelling and I wanted to have a
entirely by chance. business that allowed me to be creative and
“It really was more of an accident than a allowed me to travel at the same time. I was only
business plan,” says Robert. “I was travelling in 26 and just thought: if it works then great and if it
Asia, came across some silver cufflinks, decided to doesn’t, I could still go back to banking.”
buy them, called Harrods when I returned to That was in 1990 and he’s never looked back.
London and said: ‘I’ve got some cufflinks, would Dubbed the “king of cufflinks”, Robert’s line of
you like to look at them?’ And they bought all 20 Tateossian accessories is now stocked in more than
32
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