ºÝºÝߣ

ºÝºÝߣShare a Scribd company logo

An Offshore Enterprise

?
?
Dennis Smith
Dennis Smith

Dennis Smith was born in Canada and moved to the Cayman Islands in 1967 where he established a gemcutting and jewellery business. He discovered black coral on deep dives and his collections expanded to include shipwreck treasures and antiquities. By the mid 1970s, his businesses had grown significantly and he was one of the largest employers in the Cayman Islands. However, in 1982 the Cayman government imposed new duties that caused Smith to close his brokerage business and move his manufacturing to Miami where he found talented master jewellers to help elevate his designs.

1 of 1
Download to read offline
An Offshore Enterprise Dennis Smith was born in Vancouver Canada in 1948 and raised in the Northern Rockies of Alberta, not far from Canada¡¯s now famous diamond fields. After being frost bitten in Grand Cache he moved to the Cayman Islands in 1967 where he established a gemcutting and jewellery making business. The Cayman Islands were still ¡°the Islands that Time Forgot.¡± Caymanians were mostly seafarers and turtle fishermen who often spent years away at sea. Their industrious womenfolk raised the children and ran local businesses. But the quite islands were stirring with the promise of economic expansion driven by tax-free offshore banking and free port trading. Dennis was about to catch a very big wave. In 1968 he made the first deep water Black Coral dive down the forbidding Cayman Wall. This precious gemstone accelerated his jewellery business. By the mid 70s he was the 4th largest employer in Cayman. He stopped coral diving in 1976 but his diving friends had been selling him their shipwreck treasures since 1969. These previously unknown and exciting lost rarities added another unique dimension of adventure to his collections that soon expanded to include carefully researched archeologically recovered Roman and Greek antiquities. His diamond store caught the economic recovery of 1976 and the ensuing demand for private hard assets investments opened up an opportunity for offshore brokerage trading in loose and certificate diamonds. Dennis quickly added bullion dealing, exceptional gemstones and museum quality antiquities to his package of offshore private client portfolio services. In addition to his 2 active retail stores, jewellery manufacturing and brokerage business Dennis had numerous jewellery and diamond subcontractors in the US and Europe. He spent almost as much time traveling as he did in Cayman. By the 1980s not only were his businesses thriving but also a coterie of Smith trained alumni had opened a slew of vibrant retail designer stores and creative workshops. Caymans creative jewellery cluster employing about 25% of the working population had reached its critical mass. In 1982 the government imposed a 10% duty on loose goods and semi-manufactured jewellery. Dennis closed his brokerage business, redesigned his collections to feature the still duty free doubloons and antiquities and moved his jewellery manufacturing business to the Miami jewellery district. There he discovered a gold mine of talented master jewellers who elevated his creative concepts to a world-class level. With this talent pool at his back his developed the world famous Smiths of Cayman collections that were featured prominently in European society magazines. His ultra- exclusive Metamorphosis collection emerged in 1992, he took that collection private in 1996.

More Related Content

An Offshore Enterprise

  • 1. An Offshore Enterprise Dennis Smith was born in Vancouver Canada in 1948 and raised in the Northern Rockies of Alberta, not far from Canada¡¯s now famous diamond fields. After being frost bitten in Grand Cache he moved to the Cayman Islands in 1967 where he established a gemcutting and jewellery making business. The Cayman Islands were still ¡°the Islands that Time Forgot.¡± Caymanians were mostly seafarers and turtle fishermen who often spent years away at sea. Their industrious womenfolk raised the children and ran local businesses. But the quite islands were stirring with the promise of economic expansion driven by tax-free offshore banking and free port trading. Dennis was about to catch a very big wave. In 1968 he made the first deep water Black Coral dive down the forbidding Cayman Wall. This precious gemstone accelerated his jewellery business. By the mid 70s he was the 4th largest employer in Cayman. He stopped coral diving in 1976 but his diving friends had been selling him their shipwreck treasures since 1969. These previously unknown and exciting lost rarities added another unique dimension of adventure to his collections that soon expanded to include carefully researched archeologically recovered Roman and Greek antiquities. His diamond store caught the economic recovery of 1976 and the ensuing demand for private hard assets investments opened up an opportunity for offshore brokerage trading in loose and certificate diamonds. Dennis quickly added bullion dealing, exceptional gemstones and museum quality antiquities to his package of offshore private client portfolio services. In addition to his 2 active retail stores, jewellery manufacturing and brokerage business Dennis had numerous jewellery and diamond subcontractors in the US and Europe. He spent almost as much time traveling as he did in Cayman. By the 1980s not only were his businesses thriving but also a coterie of Smith trained alumni had opened a slew of vibrant retail designer stores and creative workshops. Caymans creative jewellery cluster employing about 25% of the working population had reached its critical mass. In 1982 the government imposed a 10% duty on loose goods and semi-manufactured jewellery. Dennis closed his brokerage business, redesigned his collections to feature the still duty free doubloons and antiquities and moved his jewellery manufacturing business to the Miami jewellery district. There he discovered a gold mine of talented master jewellers who elevated his creative concepts to a world-class level. With this talent pool at his back his developed the world famous Smiths of Cayman collections that were featured prominently in European society magazines. His ultra- exclusive Metamorphosis collection emerged in 1992, he took that collection private in 1996.