DuQuet Jewelers
Founded : 1952
Activities : Wholesale collection, jewelry collection, high jewelry collection, watches, manufacturing for local national chains
Parent Company : Finlay Enterprises
Stockists : 5 locations
Origin : 33185 Grand River Ave
Farmington Hills, MI 48336
www.DuQuets.com
Vin Lee walked into DuQuet Jewelers in 1992 to purchase a Rolex President, celebrating the closing of a $50 million deal with the Grand Traverse Resort. He walked out having purchased the company after only a few hours in the Diamond Room. The Rolex President, a $100,000 diamond encrusted work of art, would come later. DuQuets had already been established as one of the top regional jewelers in suburban Detroit, MI for over two decades and was owned and operated by a pair of french brothers, Charles and Allan.
DuQuets, and it’s subsidiary American Jewelry Manufacturers, had at one time two affiliated manufacturing facilities and a cumulative 5 retail showrooms across Southern Michigan. AJM was contracted by many mall-based chain retailers to do their shop work. Vin Lee’s goal was to expand outside of the Michigan area and across North America at a time when the Zales Corporation was consuming many of the smaller chains in the country.
DuQuet Jewelers specialized in creating one of a kind works of art for Detroit’s elite. Often engaging the creations of “the Picasso of gems,” world renowned Bernd Munsteiner and casting them in platinum or 18K gold and adorning them with diamonds. Several times a year black tie events showing off the new seasonal collections were held at such prominent locations as the Dodge Brother’s Meadow Brook Estate, Albert Kahn’s Cranbrook House and Gardens, and even aboard the legendary Star of Detroit Cruise Liner. In attendance were some of Detroit’s most prominent names mingling with beautiful women dripping in Vin Lee’s DuQuet Jewelers latest creations.
DuQuet Jewelers was originally started in 1952 with strong relationships anchored by the merchants of the famed Greenfield Plaza. In addition to crafting fine jewelry for members of the Detroit’s Pistons, Tigers, and Red Wings winning teams, DuQuets was also engaged in brokering many of the finest time pieces to the jetset and socialites. Two noteworthy pieces along side Vin Lee’s Rolex was one of Henry Ford’s personal watches and a $1 million piece rumored to have been custom made for the then bankrupt Donald Trump. The company also provided it’s patrons with the finest brands in the horology industry like Rolex, Patek Philippe, Baume & Mercier, and Audemars Piquet.