Being the royal jeweler is a lot like being a member of Fight Club, in that both are pursuits that take up the majority of your time and mental real estate, and neither are things you’re really allowed to talk about.
Of course, there are several differences between being the royal jeweler and a member of Fight Club—most notably, that the former actually exists.
“Discretion is very, very important,” says Omar Vaja, the senior sales director at Bentley & Skinner, the longtime official jeweler for the royal family. As we sit together in London to discuss the company’s work—which includes, among other things, providing pieces for members of the royal family—he drops his voice a little, as if to underscore the secrecy of it all. “We can say we are jewelers by appointment, but we will not discuss what we do exactly for the royal family. They can talk about it, but we won’t.”
The confidentiality isn’t always easy, Vaja admits, especially when a Bentley & Skinner piece is misidentified as an item by one of its competitors in the press. He and his team aren’t allowed to correct the mistake.
“I’ve been a bit upset actually when I’ve seen pieces that we’ve supplied, which the journalist [misidentifies], and I want to say, ‘Hang on a second!’ But we cannot do this,” he says. “‘No comment’ is a very important phrase to remember. Because, obviously, you want to talk about [it], because you’re proud of the work you’re doing—but you can’t.”
Read more about the top secret work of the Official Royal Jeweler on the Harpers Bazaar website HERE
