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Interview with Steve Biancardi of Solomon's Mines, The Bahamas
For anyone looking for a luxury item in The Bahamas, their first port of call is often Solomon’s Mines. Founded in 1908, the luxury retailer is the country’s oldest retailer of luxury goods, where it boasts three outlets, all situated on New Providence Island.
Integral to Solomon’s Mines’ recent success has been Steve Biancardi, Vice President of Sales and Operations. We sat down with him during our recent visit to The Bahamas to find out more about one of the county’s most successful luxury retail operations.
“As a company we’ve been around for 110 years now, so Solomon’s has got the name that everyone respects and knows,” he said. “We sell everything ranging from china and crystal all the way through to the most perfect diamonds, and top watches around the world. There’s something for everyone, whether you want to spend $20 or $200,000, we’re here for you.”
He continued: “We’re very proud to be one of the main retailers around the world and exclusive on Paradise Island for Hearts on Fire, which is the world’s most perfectly cut diamond. The Fulfilment Collection just shows the brilliance of Hearts on Fire, the cut is just perfect, every facet, every angle, is perfect. It lets light reflect all around the stone, so it just bounces straight through the stone and back up towards you so you get an amazing reflection.
“We have many fashion jewellery lines as well, Rebecca, Stephen Webster, who I’m very proud of. He’s an English designer and he’s just been awarded the MBE. And then we stretch through into watches, whether it’s surfing or diving. We have a great Nixon watch, we have Philippe Stein which has technology built into the watch and is known to help with arthritis. It’s natural frequency technology they have inside it.
“And then moving right the way through we have our premier line which is Ulysse Nardin. The thing with Ulysse is they’re stunning, beautiful watches, but you can wear them all the time, they’re extremely strong, they’re all water proof and they’re just a beautiful range.
“They don’t make many watches annually compared to other companies so it makes them that bit more exclusive. And we have at our disposal the entire collection of Ulysse Nardin so we’re very, very fortunate in that.”
You can watch the full video interview with Steve Biancardi above this article. Additionally, watch a video showcasing luxury shopping in the Bahamas here.