Bel-Oro International, a New York-based importer and distributor of fine gold
and jewelry products has purchased the assets of T. Sardelli & Sons, a family-run
Providence jeweler with 250 employees.
Terms of the deal – completed at the end of 2003 – were not disclosed.
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Paul Sardelli, former chief executive officer at the jeweler, said he is staying on as part of Bel-Oro’s management team. He said that while the distribution and sales division would remain in Providence, the manufacturing component of the business would ultimately be moved offshore. He did not say how many jobs such a move would affect.
Though he did not elaborate, Sardelli cited the state’s business climate as a factor in his family’s decision to sell the company.
“The way Rhode Island has been – and the way the state has treated us – we’re better off selling the business,” Sardelli said in a telephone interview.
In a statement, put out by Bel-Oro on Dec. 30, Sardelli said that when the family decided to sell the jewelry business: “We wanted to find a partner that would maintain the integrity and product quality that the Sardelli family has worked very hard to build over the last half-century. We looked at different buyers and realized that Bel-Oro’s marketing-driven philosophy would be a perfect fit for our customers.”
Dennis Ulrich, Bel-Oro’s chief executive officer, cited Sardelli’s “strong reputation for producing high-quality jewelry products at moderate price points.”
The purchase of Sardelli is Bel-Oro’s second major recent transaction. A few months ago, the company acquired Pace Enterprises, a Los Angeles-based producer and distributor of colored stone jewelry items.
T. Sardelli & Sons had been one of the largest manufacturers of precious metal earrings in the United States.
