Although Takahashi’s passing away in 2013 meant that those silver works (and sometimes gold on rare occasions) were not created by him, the fate of his business and craft were left to his children who have continued his art and legacy. You could argue that with the rise of social media and the internet, Goro’s pieces have become even more revered than ever before. Keeping up with the tradition where the only place Goro’s can be directly purchased from is at his Harajuku store, you’ll find long lines of fans hoping to get a chance of purchasing what it stocked for the day. Customers in the store are limited to five at a time and can only acquire one single item each visit so they would have to hope what they wanted was on offer as all pieces are created the night before. Even then, staff would still have a final say on whether a customer could purchase a piece depending on their personality.
While you may not be able to buy anything you want, if anything at all, it can get confusing on how you can even have a chance of getting into the store. Despite upholding pretty much all of their traditional methods of production and selling, Goro’s evolved its purchasing system to a lottery approach. Here’s what you should know and what you need to do if you find yourself interested in acquiring a piece. The store is open every day of the week aside from Wednesday and is located at 4 Chome-29-4 Jingumae, 渋谷区 Tokyo 150-0001, Japan.
1. Although the raffle draw opens at 11 a.m., you need to start getting your place in line around 10 a.m. If you get there early enough and there is space on the metal railing in front of the store, you must sit on it to claim your spot. The line for the raffle draw closes at 11 a.m. so you must be there prior to that.
2. Once the draw is open, staff will go through the line to issue a ticket that identifies if you’re going in alone or as a group (you’ll only be able to draw one ticket if you want to enter collectively as a group).
3. The store staff will then go through the line again to check passports.
4. Once you move up to the front of the store where the raffle is located, you need to press the draw on the iPad which determines the position of entry for you.
5. If you draw a lower number in the range of 1-30, you’ll receive a wristband with your number on and you’ll have the opportunity to enter the store according to your number.
6. After you receive the band, you will have to wait until 1 p.m. which is when the store opens and the first five customers will be able to enter.
7. Goro’s only accepts cash and while prices vary for different pieces, you’ll get an idea of the pricing from a number of online videos.
If you’re out of luck in all your attempts or want to save time, there is also the option of going to shops that resell Goro’s like Rinkan or even Grailed for those that can’t make the Tokyo trip. However, it doesn’t come with the experience of lining up and taking your chances, which most collectors can vividly remember. Moreover, you will be paying a heavy premium of around double for some of the more “regular” pieces or even more for the rare items such as the eagles.
To get a better idea of why Goro’s has developed such an aura around it, we reached out to Marcus Troy and Ian Anton from Richardson on why they gravitated towards the jewelry, as well as to hear some of their experiences in acquiring pieces.