Written by Bérengère Treussard - Friday, December 11, 2015
My eighth encounter is one of a special and unique type, with a jewellery Maison that fascinates me in particular for the history of its founder,
The Harry Winston Wonderland is a dream come true, indeed the prestigious Maison represents absolute luxury and the American success story. A jeweller whose precious stones and diamonds count amongst the most beautiful and most famous in the world, because of their beauty and size: Jonker, Cullinan, Hope, Lesotho, American Bicentennial…
The story of this migrant’s son, born in New York in 1896, is fabulous and captivating. He loses his mother at the age of seven and moves to Los Angeles where his father opens a jewellery shop in the city center. His talent for identifying stones appears at the age of twelve. Passing by a moneylender’s windowshop, a 25 cent piece of glass catches his eye, it was in fact a 2 carat emerald. He buys it and sells it for 800$. His gift is real and he will make the most of it. He quits school at fifteen and learns the basic principles of gemology and diamonds with his father. The pupil surpasses the master, his father never purchases another gem without his advice.
Aged eighteen, he goes back to New York on his own and starts working for the New York diamond stock. He proves to be an excellent trader. He soon saves enough money to found his jewellery company in 1920 « First Diamond Company ». In order to build up a stock of stones, he purchases estate jewellery or buys by auction sales. He uses the stones and diamonds from the purchased jewellery, cuts them anew and makes them shine again, before setting them back in a more fashionable way.
Passionate about diamonds, he nevertheless acquires other magnificent precious stones from important inheritance sales (rubies, sapphires, and emeralds) and makes a name of himself. He puts an end to Premier Diamond Company and creates Harry Winston, Inc. in 1932. Soon after, he meets his wife to be, Edna Fleishman. Their future will be forever linked to the quest for diamonds.
Harry Winston starts purchasing uncut diamonds and big size diamonds. He is the one to make them famous by exhibiting diamonds to the public as soon as they arrive on the US territory. He showcases rarity and makes it available. For instance, the Jonker diamond was exhibited in the American Museum of Natural History a few days after its arrival in 1935, it was then exhibited all around America in local museums.
Later on, in 1949, he organised a tour of his own private collection named « The Court of Jewels », travelling through the United States until 1953. Committed to offer always more beauty to the public, in 1958 he donates the famous blue diamond named « Hope » to «
Pioneer in the art of marketing, driven by a true will to share his passion for precious stones with the public, he also innovates by becoming the jeweller to the stars, having them wear his jewellery on the red carpet and on the screen. The first time was when Ingrid Bergman wore this sumptuous diamond necklace in the film « Notorious ».
The more his collections grow, so does his fame, his insurance company asks him not to show himself in public, thus very few pictures have been taken of Sir Harry Winston. From 1955 onwards, he opens offices in Europe, starting by Geneva, then Paris in 1957.
He has travelled the world for the most beautiful diamonds, but he also revolutionised the modern jewel, and he always chose to highlight the gem rather than the metal. The precious stone makes the jewel and not the contrary. For this, he hired unconventional artistic talents who knew how to give a contemporary approach to jewellery and to creation, thus supporting his vision of a jewel in harmony with nature and the world around us.
Nevdon Koumrouyan and
The cluster is his famous signature: it consists in setting together pear-cut or marquise-cut gems so that they seem to be connected by nothing more than beauty. A jewel in three dimension sparkling from all sides.
The very latest collection,
As for myself, I fell in love with these earrings from the
In fact, the iconic
Harry Winston passes away in 1978, aged 82. He built a great and beautiful jewellery Maison, and was the living proof that passion and instinct leads to success. I am very fond of one of his quotes which I always keep in mind because it impressed me, but also because it guides me in my work:
«If a man thinks big, he will be big – in thinking small, he settles for mediocrity» – Harry Winston.
A passion for diamond, nature’s gem. He created an important workshop and a diamond school to teach the next generations about this natural beauty.
The fact that Swatch Group bought over Harry Winston at the beginning of the year 2013 helped the jewellery Maison develop exceptional high jewellery timepieces, but one may wonder if the spirit of Sir Harry Winston isn’t slowly fading away…
Indeed, I have to admit that the Water collection seen at the Paris Biennale des Antiquaires in 2013, and in the video here below, have been one of my favourites in recent years. Admire the moving beauty, inspired and inspiring…
A special thank you to Maison Harry Winston for its trust, and thank you to photographer
For all enquiry, please contact the boutique:
Harry Winston Paris Montaigne
29 Avenue Montaigne
75008 Paris
+33 14720 0309