UK Cigar Scene Magazine September Issue 9 | Page 6
Profile of John DeCosta
and Cigar Sanctum
Rarely without a cigar and seldom staying
in the same place for any length of time,
John DeCosta is a busy man but then he
has a business to build and he’s created
something unique which he wants to tell
the whole cigar world about.
me, is to remind you of death but in a positive
way. To encourage you to live life to the full
because we are only here for a short time and it is
important to appreciating every day.
When I spoke to John over cigars and an excellent
glass of red wine at Bourdon House in London
he was just planning a brief trip to Dubai for an
informal product launch with friends on his way
to launch his range of Partagas jewellery a major
official launch in Hong Kong with Pacific Cigar at
one of their cigar lounges in early October.
At the following year’s Habanos Festival John
launched the Cigar Sanctum collection and
discussed with friends the idea of asking Habanos
for a licence to produce Partagas items. After
his initial caution he set up meetings and found
that he was pushing at an open door. Despite
the fact that it has taken him 18 months he is
extremely positive about the process of dealing
with Habanos and getting the necessary clearances
and licences to create his Partagas range. This is in
fact the first time Habanos have given a licence for
jewellery
The idea of creating a company which produced
high quality jewellery for cigar lovers came, John
tells me, some to years ago when, over cigars and
good red wine, he sat with friends discussing
cigars, fellowship and friendship and conceived
the idea of a gold signet ring for himself and three
friends to wear to the upcoming international
Habanos Festival in Havana Cuba.
And so Cigar Sanctum was born and four gold
signet ring with a skull and crossed cigars were
produced in different types of gold and silver for
the ‘fraternal friends’ to wear to the festival. The
image of the skull and the crossed cigars John tells
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John has always been a passionate lover of
Partagas cigars and having checked that the image
wasn’t copyright, he created his first Partagas item,
a set of cuff links with the iconic image of the
Partagas factory.
The initial Partagas range includes a beautifully
realised and stylish selection of cufflinks, signet
rings, lapel pins, bracelets, necklaces and key
rings. John has carefully studied the way that the
brand and its bands and images have changed
over it’s long life and this has given him the
opportunity to select the best historic marks and
images for different items.