The arrival of Maxim de Turckheim as CEO of Tabayer confirms the house's unwavering commitment to building a world-class fine jewellery house with sustainability at its heart. Mr de Turckheim is the man for the job armed with a first-hand understanding of the complex world of e-commerce alongside an innate sensitivity for luxury goods. It would be fair to say that Mr de Turckheim is one of a handful of new-generation gurus of online luxury retail, gaining his unique experience at the very dawn of the new age of commerce.
Tabayer, launched in 2021, by Nigora Tokhtabayeva, has already made its mark with its strong Oera designs, which are minimalist and sculptural, with smooth tubular sweeps of gold tapering down to knife-edge points. With a family background in architecture and science studies, Ms Tokhtabayeva's approach to jewellery is pragmatic and systematic, offering clean designs for everyday wear.
The presence of Mr de Turckheim at the helm boosts Tabayer's credibility in a sector based on trust and reputation. It will also ensure that its retail strategy will be state-of-the-art and as slick as the house's pared down take on luxury. For a newcomer like Tabayer that competes with heritage houses such as Cartier and Tiffany, a strong CEO is key to forging a steady course to success.
Mr de Turckheim boasts a transatlantic wealth of culture; he was born in France, educated in England and graduated in Anthropology in America. An early advocate and key opinion leader on watches and jewelry, Mr de Turckheim was headhunted from Universal McCann to go in house at Longines. As Mr de Turckheim says: 'my path to jewelry wasn’t linear, but it was intended from the outset.'
Following his success as brand director at Longines UK, in the early 2010s, the mighty Swiss Swatch Group asked him to develop e-commerce for the entire Group, starting with Longines. At this time, e-commerce was a strange new world, and Mr de Turckheim navigated his way through it, finding novel solutions to bring the Swiss behemoth firmly into the world of e-commerce.
With such a deep knowledge of watches, it is not surprising that FarFetch, the luxury fashion platform, hired him to launch its watch business. His impressive results in attracting prestigious brands led to the addition of vintage products to his job, opening a world of unimagined price points for a fashion retailer.
When the Richemont Group bought Mr Porter, the men's branch of Net-A-Porter, Mr de Turckheim was asked to head the watch department. He had one condition: to bring men's jewellery to the platform. Timing was on his side as the arrival of COVID boosted watch sales to a 400% year on year growth in 2020.
In 2021, as agreed, he launched a sell-out men's jewellery category, and was once again plucked from his role to head up watches and jewellery across Net-A-Porter and Mr Porter. At the time, this probably made him one of the top ten most influential players in these two sectors, dealing with hundreds of different watch and jewellery brands.
With these impressive credentials, he was a perfect fit for Tabayer, who was looking for a person who could take the house to another level. With a mission to scale up Tabayer from its current 35 points of sale, Mr de Turckheim explains: 'The firm had a very accelerated beginning and developed a healthy number of wholesale partners, now we are looking to grow direct sales.' In 2024, he added Le Bon Marche, Net-A-Porter, Dover Street Market, and Al Tayer Dubai to the list of retailers and a highly successful solo ‘residency' at Bergdorf Goodman's department store in New York.
Ambitious plans for 2025 include opening a by-appointment showroom in New York, a special exhibition in March with Dover Street Market London, and launching Tabayer's first men's jewellery in partnership with Mr Porter.
Tabayer, who only uses Fairmined gold, is the first jeweller to be made a Fairmined gold ambassador. This speaks to Mr de Turckheim's dedication to sustainability. He explains: 'As a new brand, we have a social mission, and we strongly feel the need to leave the world better than we found it. We are prepared to take a hit on our margins to bring our customers a fair price for responsibly sourced products that improve the lives of the gold miners and their families. Tabayer is based around the symbol of protection, so how can we talk about this if not protecting the earth and the people who make it? Fairmined Ambassador's role is at the forefront of our strategy and we want to raise awareness of this topic.'
The house is working towards its B Corp certification for early 2025 and is planning to visit a Fairmined project in Ecuador. With a keen focus of design, sustainability, wholesale partnerships and direct sales, the future looks bright for Tabayer.
