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Guy Benhamou, Owner of Charles Garnier Paris, Passes Away June 10, 2021 (3 comments)
Los Angeles, CA—Guy Benhamou, owner of the Charles Garnier Paris jewelry brand, has passed away at age 69 following a short battle with cancer.
Benhamou, considered among the industry’s most successful entrepreneurs founded along with Gianfranco Proia, gold jewelry manufacturer OroAmerica in 1977 and built it into a substantial and highly admired brand – “The Chain with a Heart”. He then sold the company to Aurafin in 2001, making the combined company, Aurafin-OroAmerica into the largest gold jewelry supplier in the US.
OroAmerica was fondly remembered by many in the 1980’as for its brash ad campaigns featuring celebrity tough-guy Mr. T. “Rope Chain for the Toughest Customers”.
Guy was a big supporter of Jewelers Vigilance Committee, helping to elevate the integrity of the Jewelry Industry. Many industry executives first got their start at OroAmerica. Guy was always known to challenge his company associates to raise the bar. He worked tirelessly on product development and innovation.
“I have never worked with someone who was so engaged and passionate about the jewelry industry. The word failure was not in his vocabulary,” Andy Concool commented.
Guy is survived by his daughter Jordana, his son David, the mother of his children Lisa, and his loving sisters Lynda and Danielle, niece Victoria and nephew Paul.
The industry has lost one of it’s precious gems.
Service to Honor the Memory of Guy Benhamou
Today, Thursday, June 10 at 12:00 PM Noon Pacific Time there will be a Memorial Service on Zoom to honor Guy Benhamou. Those wishing to attend should follow the login information below:
Join Zoom Memorial:
https://us05web.zoom.us/j/89358827694?pwd=c3FTVEVOUEpIM1VHWjkvRFA1VjIvUT09
Meeting ID: 893 5882 7694, Passcode: LHSjq2
A Letter from Guy's Daughter Jordana Benhamou:
I was never prepared for the death of my father. My dad was truly one of a kind and he showed so much love to me, my brother and my mom. I will miss him dearly.
Growing up my dad would take me out and he even got me my first Madonna CD. He would call me to tell me how much he loved me and to make sure I was ok; I adored him. He was even there for me when I was in rehab. He accepted me for me. I would visit him in CA and I was Daddy’s little girl.
He saw me graduate college high school and I was able to go to culinary school because of him. I got to travel the world. I will miss his calls, our talks. His birthday cards. It’s the little things that matter. He was the best at shoe shopping. He took me to plays and the last play was Beetlejuice - I really enjoyed it. We would go to art museums together.
I will miss him so much. I loved my Dad. It breaks my heart he will never get to see me accomplish my dreams and get my dream job.
Dad you are always in my heart. I love you a lot.