I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Elliot Abbott, President of The Hollywood Collection. Warm and engaging, he shares with us his love for his business—and his customers. He knows these actresses and movies will never come around again. But, as he says, Hollywood is alive and well at The Hollywood Collection. _______________________________________________________________________________
SD: Can you tell us about any favorites you have in The Hollywood Collection.
Elliot Abbott: There’s a ring I just love—it’s a Lombard ring—HCR178. It has a black square center stone and it’s surrounded by clear cz baguettes.SD: That’s the Art Deco, which just happens to be my favorite, too.
Elliot Abbott: It’s so elegant, and actually QVC just ordered it again for their August show.
SD: Is it a big ring?
Elliot Abbott: It’s big enough—it’s not gigantic though. It’s sort of the right size. You know, people call and say, “Tell me about this ring. Do you like this ring?” I have to be honest with them. Sometimes we really get it right, and sometimes we don’t. And, with that Lombard ring we just got it right. And in person it’s just gorgeous. People look at it and say, "Wow!"
SD: Yes, it's a very classy ring. It is so reminiscent of that wonderful style and attitude the legendary actresses had about them. Do you have any other favorites from the collection?
Elliot Abbott: There’s a Monroe ring, HCR266. It’s a gold ring with three rows of princess cut stones and it’s beautiful. We have probably sold more of that ring than anything else. That is just one of those rings. I’m told it is also one of the most comfortable rings to wear. We’ve sold a lot of them. I think this is a case of one and one makes four. It’s a beautiful ring and it’s Marilyn Monroe. With that combination you’re going to see some action.
There are a couple of pairs of earrings we love. Vivien Leigh’s ruby earrings, HCE215. They’re beautiful! 
There’s a star pendant that Ingrid Bergman wore in Gaslight that’s gorgeous. We’ve sold lots of them. It’s hard to have favorites because we have about 300 to 400 pieces in the collection now. SD: The Hollywood Collection celebrates the golden era of film in Hollywood, and the legendary actresses who wore these exquisite pieces of jewelry. I notice that memorabilia collectors are also linking to your website. So some people are keeping The Hollywood Collection in glass cases. A lot of different people love your jewelry.
Elliot Abbott: Yes, that's something we’ve learned. We also have a lot of customers who are very wealthy who do not want to wear their real jewelry. They go on vacation and bring The Hollywood Collection. Because it’s gorgeous, no one is going to know, and that’s the way they want to do it.
SD: Why not wear reproductions if they are this beautiful. Why risk losing your real jewelry or having it stolen.
You mentioned you have thousands of designs to choose from so The Hollywood Collection will continue to grow.
Elliot Abbott: It’s what we love. We probably have about 20 or 30 styles now that are in development, and, of course, we can’t wait for them to come out. As I said though, it’s a slow process. But no, we’re not likely to run out of ideas.
The first question QVC asked us is how many shows I thought we could do. QVC orders about 4 or 5 new pieces every show and then they re-order the pieces they’ve sold already that they know are winners. I told them that at the rate of 5 new pieces a show, we could go on for probably 80 years. They got a good laugh out of it. But, it’s true.
SD: That’s wonderful! Well, I wish you continued success. Is there anything you would like to add in closing?
Elliot Abbott: No, I think you’ve captured the essence of it, why we do it.
SD: The Jewelry Collecting site is all about the magic of jewelry—a celebration of wearable art. We like to know why people create jewelry, why they choose to be in the jewelry business. The Hollywood Collection is a fascinating story and we love the jewelry.
Elliot Abbott: We like the way it makes people feel.
SD: Making people happy is a wonderful way to do business.
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