Diamonds are a Boy's Best Friend

James Bishop is currently the sales manager at Lugano Diamonds in Newport Beach, California.  As a resident of Naples, he enjoys kayaking, spending time with his baby boy and family, and immersing himself in luxury sales by providing private and personal service to his clients. Learn about how Bishop landed his sales manager position at Lugano Diamonds after organizing fashion shows in New York and working for various companies like Fred Segal, Gucci and Calvin Klein.

What was your first job out of college and how did you land the job?

Bishop: I was the West Coast Marketing Coordinator for Calvin Klein in New York. I had a contact that put me in touch with them and they interviewed me in San Francisco and New York. And they liked me, I guess. So it was mostly through networking and contacts that I was able to get the position.

You worked in luxury sales for quite some time. How did you go from organizing fashion shows in New York, working for Gucci and Calvin Klein and then working for Fred Segal in LA?

Bishop: A long time ago, the owner of Fred Segal would come in and buy Calvin Klein. So again, it’s networking again. I met him a few times. Years later, they were looking for someone to manage their stores in Orange County. I was in Orange County at the time, and because I had a connection, I put my foot in the door and got hired. Four years later, I got promoted to Los Angeles and ran the business.

What does a day in the life of a sales manager at Lugano Diamonds consist of?

Bishop: When we come in, I meet with my sales team and then we talk about goals for the day and they talk about the clients that they are bringing in for the month. Then we put jewelry out and every night all of our pieces are locked away in the vault. And then we meet and discuss the things we do for the day. Typically it’s an interesting concept. We have jewelry that could be $500-$600, or up to $5 to $6 million dollars. Some of our deals can take months to happen. And some of our business goes much faster. We approach each client that we have on a one-to-one basis and we talk about clients and discuss how to move forward with a deal. It’s focused on taking care of each individual client. Towards the end of the day we could be packing up jewelry, organizing models, security, and transporting jewelry offsite maybe and set up. We do travel for special events.

Why did you decide to move from LA to Naples?

Bishop: My wife and I loved Naples. We always have. We had a baby who is now 7 and a half months. And my wife’s family is from Long Beach. During that time, I was commuting from Naples to Los Angeles when I worked for Fred Segal in Los Angeles.

How did you get your job at Lugano Diamonds? Have you worked in the diamonds industry before? How long have you been working at Lugano in Newport Beach?

Bishop: Never in my life have I worked in the diamonds industry. I have a connection to the Vice President of the company. We’ve done events and things like that. I’ve known him for a long time. And we had talked about working together in the future. And basically he had asked me to come and see what Lugano did and if I’d be impressed by the way that they handle their business and the way they take care of their customers, which is very personal. The service is far higher than anything I have ever seen. I was very impressed and one thing led to another, and they offered me a job. I’ve been working at Lugano for three months now.

What type of diamonds do you sell at Lugano Diamonds?

Bishop: We sell triple x diamonds, which are diamonds of the highest cut, polished in symmetry. High quality diamonds of all different colors. White diamonds, then we have black, cognac, pink, yellow. We sell collection pieces of jewelry. We sell everything. We sell engagement rings, bracelets, necklaces, very unique stuff but all our diamonds are collection diamonds they are of the highest color and polished and on the market. It’s very high end luxury. We’re lucky that our prices are extremely competitive.

 Did you ever imagine that you’d be working in the diamonds industry? How did you make the transition from organizing fashion shows in NY and suddenly shifting your career to diamonds?

Bishop: […] Even from a fashion show standpoint, you are always thinking about your customer or client. It’s a constant juggling and catering of people and that never changes whether you’re at Gucci or Fred Segal. It’s offering the best service that you can do […] providing a certain level of quality service and learning about diamonds is not difficult. But learning how to take care of somebody takes skill.

Can you talk more about how you landed the job organizing fashion runway shows in New York?

Bishop: During college, I worked for Calvin Klein in Costa Mesa. And then I left after college, did some traveling. I worked for the corporate offices in New York but I lived in California. I had some sort of connection to the company and they were looking for someone to fill that position so I applied for the job and there were a series of interviews and I guess I interviewed well. And that’s how I landed the job.

 What advice would you give to someone who wants to work in the diamonds industry or sales?

Bishop: I truly believe that personality sells. It’s important to be well-rounded and I think that in a very high level like expensive clothes, or jewelry, it’s important to live a colorful life and have things to talk about with the client. A lot of it is networking and enriching yourself personally and just being able to talk to people and hold a conversation and be an interesting person.