You may have heard of our 42 point quality inspection, which every one of our pieces has to pass before it’s considered ready to ship. The inspection, which covers everything from the clarity of the gemstones to the structural integrity of the piece, is thorough enough to review the most microscopic nuance.
That’s because when it comes to scrutinizing a piece, our Quality Excellence department certifies that we’re more discerning than our most discerning client. So much so, that you could call the Quality Excellence team TACORI’s harshest critic.
They peer at every piece through 10x loupes, prod every set diamond with a pin to uncover any that might become loose, and they gauge the stone’s diameters for total consistency.
Some would consider the inspection process overkill. But if you talk with Quality Excellence, it becomes obvious that they see themselves as the gatekeeper of TACORI’s legacy of excellence. Everyone at TACORI has witnessed the immense effort that goes into making a TACORI piece, and the Quality Excellence is passionate about making sure that the rest of the world can see it too.
Quest for the Best
The 42 point inspection has an undeniably clinical ring to it, and anyone who hasn’t spent time with the very passionate members of the TACORI family might assume that the inspection is treated as an efficiently robotic checklist. But although Quality Excellence’s approach is systematic, it’s anything but disinterested or mechanical.
Sara, head of the Quality Excellence, has been with TACORI for sixteen years. She and her immediate colleagues know every TACORI style by heart, and have developed an intuitive sense of quality, which allows them to view a ring holistically. They understand the preferences of a customer. If a ring passes the inspection but they see something that can be improved upon, they’ll make sure that it is.
“If it can be better, we will make it better.” Sara says. She’s not afraid to send a ring back to polishing, setting, casting, or all the way back to the drawing board.
Sometimes, she’ll send a ring back many times over. She embraces iteration, and for that matter, confrontation. She knows that excellence requires a bit of both. No artisan or designer is ever excited for a do-over, but it’s known that Quality Excellence’s objective eye is championing everybody - the artisans, the customer, and the TACORI reputation.
Down to the Milgrain
Mass-produced jewelry with machined design details would be easy to inspect. But because all design details at TACORI are done by hand - and every piece passed is the collective art of at least 20 sets of hands - Quality Excellence has to identify the nearly imperceptible differences in milgrain, for example, and make sure that they all meet a certain level of consistency.
That being the case, it is largely thanks to Quality Excellence that TACORI can unfailingly output such meticulously handcrafted design details, and these design details set TACORI apart.
Because while hand-made details will never be as consistent as machined details, our slower design process gives the pieces character, and also makes it so that no two rings are ever exactly the same.
Never a Dull Moment
Different styles present different challenges. For example, a pavé ring could have 100 melee diamonds, all of which need to be checked, one by one, for security.
Even though Sara has been with TACORI for nearly two decades, her job is still engaging. New styles and new setting techniques give her new things to look out for.
“I want to raise any imperfections up to TACORI’s standards - and we have high standards. And excellence is exciting. It keeps us striving for the best.”
Sara explains that excellence is an ongoing process, where improvement is fueled by feedback. Quality Excellence is TACORI’s feedback mechanism. They give their suggestions for improvement, based on the 42 point inspection, their own professional opinions, and on behalf of customers. Sara won’t send anything out unless it’s something that she would be proud to wear, keep as an heirloom, and pass on to future generations.
So while the 42 point inspection is certainly impressive in its thoroughness, it’s the passion and ownership of Quality Excellence that drives a culture of excellence into every department, and similarly every component and layer of a TACORI piece.