The Daily joined Town & Country for an exclusive luncheon with Chris Del Gatto, CEO and founder of Del Gatto jewelry, as the company launched its charitable division with its first partner, The Society of Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital. The launch celebration at Hearst Tower–with notable guests like supermodel Veronica Webb, Dorinda Medley, and Hannah Lynch—kicked off with a Q&A led by Town & Country’s senior market and accessories editor Will Kahn with CEO Chris Del Gatto. Chris shared his thoughts on his passion for the luxury resale industry, Del Gatto’s most notable pieces, and its newest division.
Senior Market and Accessories Editor Will Kahn with CEO Chris Del Gatto
On his passion for resold jewels…
“We recognized early on that every diamond that is sold back into the trade is one that doesn’t have to be torn from the ground. I realized what we needed to do was find a very sincere and informative way to have people understand that if there is jewelry that they’re not wearing that’s truly sitting in a box, they should look at that as the water bottle they have after they finish the water. I think I am one of the first people in the industry that commissioned an environmental study on the harms of diamond and precious metal mining, and the results were horrific—from effect on the ecosystem to labor to the surrounding wildlife. I think if people became more aware of the damage that was being done by ignoring or sitting on things that are not at all being used, then attitudes would start to change.”
On Del Gatto’s stand out buys…
“I’ve been so humble and so lucky and honored to buy some of the most fabulous jewelry in the world. We’ve flown to Europe to buy from the Royal Family. I’ve bought a tiara that was owned by Napoleon’s sister. We’ve bought a necklace that was owned by Marie Antoinette that my beautiful wife Veronica [Webb] has worn to an event, and the kids still ask about that piece…”
On Del Gatto’s charity division…
“The charitable division gives us the ability to reach out to different charities and talk to them about reaching out to their constituency to raise money through this new asset class. Everyone has jewelry that they don’t want to wear. It can be a gold chain or it can be a large diamond. Everyone has something. So it gives charities the ability to not always ask for that check, or just give their donors an option. In the end, it’s not having the donors give the check that we give them, it’s by selling to us, and we’re writing a percentage of that purchase price we pay back to that charity.”
Closing out the luncheon guests had the opportunity to sell their jewels on site with 5 percent of proceeds going toward Del Gatto’s first charitable pairing, with Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital. All items sold to Del Gatto now through June 14, 2017 will see a 5 percent donation in their name to Memorial Sloan Kettering (use the code MSK16).
