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Published at 5th Nov 2018
Modified at 2nd Aug 2023
Who is Harry Winston (aka the King of Diamonds)?
Harry Winston was
an American Jeweler better known as the King of Diamonds. He is best known to
be the owner and founder of Harry Winston Inc. and has been famous for owning
the Hope Diamond, one of the most famous jewels in the world. He has been recorded as having several high profile Diamond ownerships that span for centuries. He had held the
said diamond for a decade before he decided to donate it to the Smithsonian
Institution in 1958.
He honed his skills in the jewelry business through his father, when he used to work in his father’s jewelry shop at an early age. At age 12, he recognized a two-carat emerald in a pawn shop and immediately bought it for two cents. Two days later, he sold the same emerald for $800.
Harry Winston Rise To Fame
His notoriety in the jewelry business made the first big impact in the industry when he acquired Arabella Huntington’s jewelry collection back in 1926. He bought it for $1.2 million as they were regarded as old-fashioned at that time. He then applied his unique skill in jewelry crafting and made the jewelries into more contemporary styles. This then helped pave the way to his fame in the business. He honed further his skills in the jewelry business and finally opened his first store in New York in 1932.
His legacy in the business has made a large footprint and fame all over the jewelry industry. His fame even transcended to special mentions in movies and comic novels. The Harry Winston Inc. has currently operated 39 jewelry salons and had a large number of affiliates all over the world. Such locations are in New York, California, Las Vegas, Honolulu, Hawaii and Chicago, to name a few.
Famous Diamonds
Aside from the Hope Diamond, he has held several notable diamonds and some of them are the following:
- Portuguese diamond – a large octagon-cut diamond known for its clarity and flawlessness. He traded the said diamond to the Smithsonian for 3,800 carats worth of small diamonds.
- The Anastasia – known for its D color and flawless clarity, Winston purchased this diamond in 1972.
- The Blue Heart – a heart shaped brilliant that has ownership spanning for almost 50 years.
- The Deal Sweetener – part of the largest individual sale of diamonds amounting to $24,500,000, the deal sweetener was the last jewel to be included on the stash, thus called the deal sweetener.
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