By: Stefenie Frith<\/p>\n
Garo Tutunjian is known as “the jeweler\u2019s jeweler.”<\/p>\n
Tutunjian and his wife, Jacci have owned Smoke Tree Jewelers in the Smoke Tree Village Shopping Center for 17 years. But Tutunjian\u2019s history as a jeweler began long before that.<\/p>\n
As a boy in Jerusalem he made jewelry instead of going to school.<\/p>\n
As a young man in Southern California, he practiced his craft in Beverly Hills and was the first Armenian Jeweler in the downtown Los Angeles Jewelry District, said Jacci Tutunjian.<\/p>\n
“No College, no school, no education, just jewelry,” said Garo Tutunjian, who lives in Palm Springs.<\/p>\n
He won the International Diamond Award while working in Beverly Hills. He was later persuaded by jewelers in the Coachella Valley to come work for them.<\/p>\n
Tutunjian made jewelry for leading jewelers Robann\u2019s, Leed\u2019s, Gucci, and Cartier. He still works with some of them.<\/p>\n
He eventually opened his own shops– Garo\u2019s Jeweler\u2019s Jewelry, and Farrah Jewelers in downtown Palm Springs before opening a store in Smoke Tree Village.<\/p>\n
“He\u2019s fabulous,” said Craig Johnson of Palm Springs, who was in the Tutunjian\u2019s shop on a recent weekday morning to pick up a custom-made gold and diamond bracelet.<\/p>\n
The Tutunjian\u2019s base their business on their love of jewelry and loyalty to customers.<\/p>\n
“I trust people and shake their hand,” said Garo Tutunjian “That\u2019s what I believe.”<\/p>\n
The couple are eager to show off Garo Tutunjian\u2019s work. He pulls out box after box of sparkling rings, half-finished pendants and princess-cut diamonds.<\/p>\n
“This is my work,” he said, his voice thick with his Armenian accent.<\/p>\n
Because he designs many of the pieces he sells, a 22 Carat diamond necklace runs $60,000 in his store, compared to what he said would cost double that elsewhere.<\/p>\n
They have a wide selection of wedding bands for gay couples, intriguing pendants for the Agua Caliente Cultural Museum and diamond crosses.<\/p>\n
They also carry estate pieces and designs from Italy.<\/p>\n
The Tutunjian\u2019s customers include police officers, nurses, and celebrities and they said prices fit any pocket book. Tutunjian once designed a cross for Dolores Hope and a pendant for Elvis Presley.<\/p>\n
Jacci Tutunjian said she likes enhancing people\u2019s lives through jewelry.<\/p>\n
“The look in a (person\u2019s) face when they put on a bracelet, it\u2019s such a good feeling” she said.<\/p>\n
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Palm Springs Sun November 30, 2007 Smoke Tree Jewelers: Jeweler Turns Passion Into Life\u2019s Work By: Stefenie Frith Garo Tutunjian is known as “the jeweler\u2019s jeweler.” Tutunjian and his wife, Jacci have owned Smoke Tree Jewelers in the Smoke Tree Village Shopping Center for 17 years. But Tutunjian\u2019s history as a jeweler began long before […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":91,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-97","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smoketreejewelers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/97","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smoketreejewelers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smoketreejewelers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smoketreejewelers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smoketreejewelers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=97"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/smoketreejewelers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/97\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smoketreejewelers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/91"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smoketreejewelers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=97"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}