Robert Tateossian Portrait [2]

Think cufflinks, and the first name that probably comes to mind (for the style-aware, anyway) is Tateossian. Founded in 1990 by former banker Robert Tateossian, the London-based brand specialises in distinctive cufflinks with materials like meteorite, watch gears and even dinosaur fossil. We caught up with Robert when he recently stopped over in Singapore to attend the Duty Free & Travel Retail Asia Pacific Summit, and got him to give us the lowdown on his personal style:

1) When it comes to mixing bracelets, I like to combine different elements that are of a similar thickness. The bracelets I’m wearing today are a macrame one with white diamonds, one with blue sapphires, a silver square-chain one, and one with blue sodelite beads and handmade silver beads.

2) I like harmony. I’m wearing amethyst and silver cufflinks today because I’m wearing blue, and I like things to be of the same tonality. These cufflinks are made with a floating setting that really catches the light.

IMG_3441
How Robert Tateossian’s wrists were decked out on the day we met.

3) I do sometimes like that Etro style, where you combine paisley and checks, and have crazy colours mixed together. But generally I like sober things. For example, camouflage is very big right now, and I’m always debating what to wear with a camouflage jacket. The only solution, for me, is a white shirt.

4) French-cuffed shirts are not a segment that is growing right now, but what’s helping our business is that  men are not just wearing cufflinks when they wear a suit, but in more casual ways. I would say 70 per cent of my shirts are French cuff. I get them all from (edgy English fashion designer) Neil Barrett. He’s a friend; I can just tell him what I want and he makes them for me.

5) Does Neil wear my cufflinks? Nah. He doesn’t even wear shirts; he’s always in a T-shirt.

PeakMonogram