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 5 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.