Haute Secrets Los Angeles: Vin Lee

Haute Secrets Los Angeles

Name: Vin Lee

The Stats: Born in North York, Ontario, Canada; grew up in Michigan; has commuted between Bel Air and the Florida Keys for eight years; he resides in Los Angeles’ Holmby Hills while on the West Coast.

Vin Lee is no diamond in the rough. In fact, he is crystal clear about his immaculate taste, and enjoys the finer things in life. Such would only be natural for the CEO of luxury goods conglomerate Grand Metropolitan, which includes the Beverly Hills Cigar Club and Vin Lee Jewelers.

Now residing in Los Angeles’ Holmby Hills, Lee became a self-made millionaire at just 19-years-old. He ultimately did this by pitching and creating new forms of technology for the film industry, specifically illuminated marquees, which have, over the years, developed into the innovative billboard ads we see today. With all this money, Lee decided to treat himself to a new timepiece, and headed to his local jeweler. What he ended up purchasing, however, was not a new Rolex, but the business itself.

From there, Lee built up the local Detroit jeweler into an empire, expanding into different locations, including Atlanta, Beverly Hills, and Sarasota, Fla., and later into international fame. He also chose to branch out into different markets, including tobacco, fashion, cosmetics, and fragrance.

Lee proves that luxury is infectious, and that the quality of this lifestyle is incomparable. Donned in a well-tailored suit, with a freshly rolled cigar in hand, Lee is definitely in the (Ferrari) driver’s seat of living haute.

Check out Vin Lee’s favorite haute spots in Los Angeles at Haute Secrets.