Since 1969
Family owned.
LA grown.
Four generations of our family, one studio, and one belief: jewelry should always feel personal. We’ve called the Los Angeles Jewelry District home since 1969.
Before Los Angeles
1963 · Yerevan
It starts at a bench in Armenia.
Our story starts long before our Los Angeles showroom, and thousands of miles away.
In Armenia, Abgar Rupchian crafted jewelry by hand. In 1963, his sixteen-year-old son, Garo, followed him into the trade, beginning as a jeweler’s apprentice in a busy manufacturing workshop in Yerevan.
There were no shortcuts. Surrounded by seasoned craftsmen, Garo learned at the bench, with his hands, one piece at a time. He learned how metal should feel, how a stone should be set, and how much the smallest details matter. Those early years shaped the kind of jeweler he would become and, eventually, the kind of jewelry store our family would build.
In 1967, Garo left Armenia and came to the United States in pursuit of the American Dream.
He found his beginning on Hill Street.
European Jewelry Company
1969 · Hill Street
A new country. A familiar craft.
Two years after arriving in America, Garo opened a small custom jewelry workshop in the Los Angeles Jewelry District. He called it European Jewelry Company.
He started where he knew best: at the bench. One customer, one piece, one relationship at a time.
Over the next two decades, Garo’s reputation traveled far beyond Hill Street. His handcrafted work was commissioned by some of the most recognized names in fine jewelry, including Tiffany & Co. and Cartier. At the same time, couples across Los Angeles came directly to him for engagement rings made the way he had learned in Yerevan: by hand, with patience, and by one craftsman from start to finish.
More than five decades later, our family is still here in Los Angeles, in the same building and on the same floor where Garo began.
The second generation
1996 – 2008
The store grew. The philosophy didn't.
Growing up in a family business meant the store was always part of life. So when Garo’s son Vic officially joined him in 1996, he wasn’t exactly starting from scratch. He had grown up watching his father at the bench, listening to customers, and learning what it meant to earn someone’s trust.
Vic brought a new kind of expertise to the family, becoming a GIA Certified Gemologist two years later. Raffi followed in 2001, and Ani joined in 2008. What had started with Garo at a single bench was becoming a family business in every sense.
The next generation brought new ideas, but Garo made sure one thing never changed: we were here to educate and guide, not sell. No pressure. No hard sell. Just honest advice and the time to figure out what feels right for you.
If you’ve ever shopped with us, you’ve probably felt that philosophy. It started with him.
Today
FOUR GENERATIONS LATER
Four generations. One trade. Same floor.
Today, the fourth generation of Rupchians is finding its place in the family business. Garo’s grandsons, Shant and Aren, grew up around the same counters their fathers once did, surrounded by the jewelers, customers, and conversations that have shaped this family for decades.
Now, they’re learning the business the same way every generation before them has: by showing up, asking questions, and learning from the people who came before them.
A lot has changed since Garo first sat down at a jeweler’s bench in Yerevan. The reason we’re here hasn’t.
In memory of
Garo Abgar Rupchian1947 – 2024
Our founder. Our father. Our grandfather.
Garo was part of the Los Angeles Jewelry District for more than five decades, but to us, he was much more than a jeweler.
He was a master craftsman, a teacher, and the person who set the standard for how we work. From the day he opened his doors in 1969 until his passing on December 25, 2024, he returned to the same bench, working with the same patience, precision, and care he had learned as a young apprentice in Yerevan.
There was almost always classical music playing while he worked. Garo knew the composers, the pieces, and usually made sure everyone around him did too. He could spend hours focused on the smallest detail of a ring, then turn around and give a first-time couple the same attention he gave the jewelers who trusted him with their most demanding work.
That was Garo. The craftsmanship mattered deeply, but so did the people.
We miss him every day. His bench may be quieter now, but the way he taught us to work, treat people, and stand behind what we make is still very much here.
We miss him every day. And every ring that leaves this store carries what he taught us.
Garo at the bench, early 1970s
Five decades, one craft
Teaching the next generation, the way he was taught in Yerevan
His last birthday, celebrated behind the counter
Making forever feel personal.
Our mission is simple: make something as personal as jewelry feel personal from the very beginning. With real guidance, craftsmanship we stand behind, and a team that takes the time to get the details right. It’s how our family has done things in Los Angeles for generations, and it’s how we plan to keep doing them.
At Icing On The Ring
Crafted for every kind of love.
Whether you’re proposing, upgrading, or celebrating something entirely your own, we’re here to help you make it personal. Real guidance, handcrafted jewelry, and people who’ll be here long after you leave with the ring.
Because for us, the relationship doesn’t end at "yes!"
THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE PIECES
Behind the sparkle.
The jewelers, experts, and familiar faces who make it all happen.