Harry Winston

Born in New York City, Harry Winston (1896 – 1978) demonstrated from an early age his great accuracy in evaluating precious gemstones. In 1947, Harry Winston was crowned ‘King of Diamonds’ by Cosmopolitan magazine due to his irreproachable sense of beauty and uniqueness in sourcing and fashioning gemstones.

The ultimate jeweller was also renowned for creating a revolution in jewellery manufacturing and design. Winston would purchase outdated pieces at a fraction of the price to have the gemstones recut to enhance the sparkle and brilliancy and produce contemporary mounts to reach the ‘modernists’ from the Roaring Twenties. The level of Harry Winston’s respect for every gemstone is honourable. Life magazine once wrote about the ultimate jeweller that he was a ‘reverent connoisseur with such deep love for fine stones that the sale of a top-quality diamond often suffuses him with a gentle melancholy for days.’