1. Vatche - King of the Ring
In his free time, Vatche Aghajayan likes to fly one of his four private jets, score antiques
at auctions, build model airplanes, and sometimes lead overseas training for the United
States Air Force. When he’s not doing any of those things, he designsengagement rings.
You might think that with such a busy schedule, Vatche’s rings would be run-of-the-mill
designs, but the 30-year veteran of the jewelry industry has just received a prestigious
award for innovation in platinum bridal jewelry design. In addition to being king of the
skies, Vatche is the undeniable king of the engagement ring.
With his black mock turtleneck, cropped hair, and knowing smile, Vatche is a little like the
Steve Jobs of the bridal jewelry world. His simple but visually appealing designs have that
extra touch of elegance that the Apple computer company has long made their signature,
and Vatche himself has an uncanny knack for spotting the next big thing in engagement
rings. He was one of the first to introduce quality, reasonably-priced platinum rings to the
American market, and remains one of the foremost platinum designers in the country.
A Vatche design is characterized by intense, almost obsessive, attention to detail. “I can
always differentiate a Vatche design by the details,” says Debi Wexler, CEO of
Whiteflash.com, a diamond retail boutique that carries Vatche’s designs. “There is always
that one extra surprise detail, the shape of the prong, a hidden stone, something pretty
and totally unique.”
Vatche himself explains a little bit about his process. “There are days when I just sit and
try and try to come up with something,” he says. “If I come up with ten designs, I might
make models for two or three, and then finally decide on the one I really like.” Then he
sits down at the bench himself and carefully crafts the first prototype by hand. Once he is
satisfied with every element of the design, its aesthetics, quality and functionality, he
passes it along to his small but dedicated team of bench jewelers to begin production.
It is a slow, painstaking process, and yet Vatche is determined to bring prices down. “By
working quickly, by making the whole process smoother, from design to the bench jeweler
to the polisher,” he explains, “I can make the prices reasonable without sacrificing
quality.” . By carefully designing rings to maximize their materials, and streamlining
production, Vatche keeps expenses down and brings handmade platinum jewelry to the
American market at prices that real people can manage. At the same time, his
commitment to long-lasting quality is unshakable. “I can make the band just a little
thinner—maybe save $150 on the retail price,” he explains, but he that’s not something

2. he’s willing to do. “A few years later, your ring will break, and you won’t be coming back
to me for more jewelry.”
Your initial impression of Vatche, both the man and the company, is one of contradictions.
His multimillion dollar company is housed in a cramped office on the fourteenth floor of a
nondescript building on a dingy midtown Manhattan block. The CEO, Vatche himself, is a
jovial guy who cracks jokes with his employees and visitors but applies intense, focused
concentration to his hand-crafted engagement ring models. The biggest contradiction of
all is Vatche’s dual career—Air Force pilot and engagement ring designer. “For some
reason, I am attracted to both love and war,” Vatche says with a shrug and his penchant
for stating facts simply and directly.
Vatche was born in Lebanon to an Armenian family, and found himself drafted into the
Lebanese Army, then a United States ally, at a young age. His affable personality and
English language skills earned him a prestigious position translating for the United States
Marines then stationed in Lebanon. While working as a translator, Vatche noticed an
application for a pilot program in the Air Force. “I wanted to fly since I was a little boy,”
he says, gesturing to the model airplanes adorning his office ceiling. After working for the
Air Force, Vatche was granted citizenship and moved to New York, where his love affair
with jewelry design blossomed. After a few years hawking gemstone pieces on the Home
Shopping Network and few high-profile partnerships with Tiffany’s and Harry Winston,
Vatche began producing his own rings and selling them through a select group of boutique
engagement ring retailers.
“When I walk down the street in New York,” the engagement ring guru explains, “I pay
attention to what the women are wearing. Every year, the styles change—new colors, new
hairstyles—and I absorb as much as I can.” Then, when he sits in his studio and
brainstorms, the design elements and fashion details from the street drift into his designs
in unexpected ways.

3. But what’s the secret? What separates the award-winning engagement ring from the so-so
ring designs that crowd Vatche’s file cabinet but never see the light of day? “I just can feel
it,” Vatche says simply, running his fingers over a sample ring lying on his desk, “I just
know—wow, this piece is a winner.” He compared the design of a ring to the feeling you
get when you look in the mirror and know that every detail of your outfit is just right and
fits you perfectly. “I look at how the stone sits on the finger,” he explains, gesturing with
the ring he is currently working on, “I look at the height, the angle. I know how to put
diamonds together without going crazy.”
Unfortunately, though, first-time ring buyers, especially in the bridal market, tend to be a
little naive and vulnerable to less-than-perfect rings in the hands of pushy salespeople.
“When customers come in for bridal, they’re excited,” Vatche says, adding that this is one
of the reasons he loves working in the engagement ring market himself. “They’re focused
on the marriage, on the party, the whole nine yards. They don’t always know what
separates a good design from a bad design.”
Although education is key, especially for an excited first-time buyer, Vatche believes that
the real proof of good, quality design comes years later, when the glow of the wedding has
worn off and the woman is wearing the ring day in and day out. That, explains Vatche, is
when she will start to notice if the diamonds aren’t quite set right, if the ring tends to
slip, or if there are visible seams on the underside of the band. “Only if the ring is perfect
will she come back to that company,” he says, and judging by his list of repeat clients,

4. which included numerous celebrities, people are happy with their Vatche rings, even years
later.
From the vantage point of the majestic carved wooden throne that he uses instead of an
office chair, Vatche can look back on a varied and accomplished career, and forward to a
newly distinguished position as one of the most respected designers in the industry. But if
there is one thing he is most proud of, it is his introduction of affordable platinum to
the engagement ring market. “When I got into the industry,” he recalls, “only a handful of
designers were working with platinum, and it was way too expensive for the consumer.”
Having been trained in Lebanon to work with all kinds of metal, including platinum, Vatche
soon realized that he could introduce quality platinum jewelry at much better prices.
Vatche, a Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force who still conducts training missions in his
free time, credits his military background for the precision and efficiency he brings to the
entire diamond ring production process. But as for the design inspiration? “You can’t learn
it; you’re born with it,” he says with a satisfied smile that might border on smug if it
weren’t undeniably true. “Millions of people can learn how to paint, but only a few are
artists. Design is the same way.” Humility is not Vatche’s strong suit, but then again, it
takes a certain cockiness to launch yourself into the engagement ring as a complete
unknown and then emerge twenty-two years later as a recognized leader in that field.
The military background that helped Vatche develop his streamlined production process
also gave him an appreciation for the value of good design and the importance of paying
attention to the little details. As an Air Force pilot, Vatche always noticed when an
airplane was designed well, and how the tiniest detail in engineering could transform the
flying experience. In the years he’s been a civilian, though, Vatche has noticed that this
appreciation for good design has been forgotten in many sectors of American industry, and
he sees that as an underlying cause for the recent economic disaster.
“At a certain point, the American car manufacturers stopped caring about design, and that
hurt the industry. The cars still performed, but they didn’t look good. Meanwhile, the
Japanese manufacturers produced designs that looked better—and they took over the
industry.” The same mistake happened in many American industries—even the jewelry
design market. “People got greedy—always trying to get more and more, cheaper and
cheaper.” The way to heal American industry, according to Vatche, is for American
companies to return to good design as a central principle, along with attention to detail
and quality. Vatche points to the huge antique chair that forms the focal point of his
audience. The secret, he says, is to choose your possessions carefully, buying less, but
choosing top-quality products when you do.
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