When Wes Carroll joined Circa as the director of its recently opened Beverly Hills office, he became one of the West Coast’s preeminent jewelry experts. The diamond and gem guru relocated from New York City, where he had held posts at Cartier, Graff and Bulgari over his 25-year career. Circa, which specializes in buying jewelry and watches, sees more than its fair share of fabulous bijoux. We checked in with Carroll to talk about some recent buys and share some tales of the trade.
What’s the most outrageous piece of jewelry you’ve seen so far at Circa?
There was a diamond tiara that came from a European royal family. The younger generation of the family brought it in. Being that times have changed, they didn’t have many opportunities to wear it and they wanted to turn this into some money.
What stones are your customers currently buying and selling at Circa?
We see more diamonds than anything else. In the past month, I’ve been seeing more colored diamonds come through.
In terms of jewelry trends, how is L.A. different from NYC?
Many people in Los Angeles would rather wear one or two pieces than a bunch of tchotchkes, so women might have a beautiful diamond watch and an amazing ring. I tend to see larger single-stone diamonds—like engagement rings—on people on the West Coast than I did on the East Coast. But there are also the customers who like to wear a lot of casual jewelry. They’ll throw on diamonds-by-the-yard chains, or they’ll wear larger diamond studs.
