Harry Winston and the Missing Diamond

Harry Winston Luxury Watches are timepieces dreams are made of. Glittering with diamonds, sporting gorgeous curvaceous lugs, Harry Winston watches embody pure unrestrained luxury.

Harry Winston, the founder of the legendary company was born in Los Angeles. His father was a small retail jeweler stemming from many generations of jewelers. At 16, Harry Winston helped his father in the shop, and then at 21 he felt he was ready for New York City. He started with $2,000 and quickly built a reputation for himself buying historic diamonds such as the famed Vargas Diamond and the Jonkers Diamond (stay tuned). He was full of courage, determination and high intellect. He sold diamonds to royalty and movie stars. Marylon Monroe referenced Harry Winston in "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend".

He recognized his fortune in his smaller customers who bought small engagement rings with hard earned money. "But most of our business is in the lower-price field." he said in a1949 interview " We have stones for as little as $2 . The average engagement ring in the country is a quarter-carat, retailing between $100 and $15o. That's the biggest part of our trade"

An interesting occurrence happened when a journalist was interviewing him regarding the Hope Diamond  Harry Winston was seated at a long velvet-topped table. Before him lay four trays containing the jewel collection of the late Evelyn Walsh McLean. Nearby on a stand hung the 44 and a half carat Hope Diamond and the famed Star of the East Diamond. Suddenly, Harry Winston's demeanor changed ever so slightly; although still quite relaxed. he said,

" There's a diamond missing, the little five-carat one"

Harry Winston searched through the gems as the journalist shuddered.

"Ah, here it is" Harry Winston said as he plucked the five carat diamond from under an elaborate ring setting, "Funny," he continued seemingly unaware of the journalists relief, "I can tell in a second when one's missing. Works unconsciously."
The journalist still troubled by the almost disappearance of the diamond inquired as to what would happen if the diamond would have vanished,
"Well for one thing," he said, "I might press this little button near my table . The police would surround the building in just a few minutes."

Then Harry Winston recalled the harrowing day when his elbow inadvertently knocked a $125,000 diamond into the waste paper basket near his desk. The entire staff had to search through all trash receptacles and about 1500 paper packages. It was like searching for a needle in a hay stack and the staff all very nearly had nervous breakdowns. Finally, after 3 days, the diamond was discovered in a trash can outside the building waiting for the garbage truck to come haul it away. Since that day, Harry Winston made a rule that all garbage must be kept in the building, just in case.

Harry Winston inspires generations of luxury lovers.

Harry Winston at the Oscars

As the glamorous and famous walk down the red carpet, tonight at the 84th Oscar Academy Awards,  amidst flashing camera bulbs and awestruck onlookers, one can be sure that glinting in the lights is jewelry from Harry Winston. One of the most reminiscent Oscar winning visions is that of Gwyneth Paltrow, 2011 Baume & Mercier's ambassador, accepting the 1999 Best Actress Oscar for "Shakespeare in Love." Above a pale pink dress glittered a 40 carat diamond Harry Winston necklace.

Harry Winston has been adding to the razzle dazzle on the red carpet since the 1943 Academy Awards when Harry Winston adorned Jennifer Jones, Best actress for "The song of Bernadette", in glamorous jewels. Each year, on the night of the Academy Awards, Harry Winston lends $200 million worth of exceptional jewelry. Harry Winston is known as jeweler to the stars and has outfitted numerous celebrities including Anne Hathaway, Angelina Jolie, Halle Barry, Gwyneth Paltrow, Renee Zellweger, Diane Lane, Jennifer Lopez, Kate Hudson, and Salma Hayek.

It is hard to believe Harry Winston came from humble beginnings. Son of Jacob Winston, a Ukrainian immigrant, Harry used his incredible wit and exceptional sense of fine gems to surge ahead. His father opened up a small jewelery store in which Harry worked as a boy. He was just 12 years old when he spied a two carat emerald in a pawn shop, recognizing the gem for what it was, he bought it for 25 c and sold it two days later for $800. Harry Winston became legendary in the jewelry business and a part of the legend of "The Hope Diamond". Towards the end of its long journey from hand to hand, the Hope Diamond was sold by Pierre Cartier to U.S. socialite, Evelyn Walsh McLean. After her death in 1947, her grandchildren sold the Hope Diamond,,in 1949, to Harry Winston. It is said the Hope Diamond cursed those who owned it, but Harry Winston never believed the curse, and died from a heart attack at 82 on December 28th, 1978. Harry died long after he had donated the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian Institute in 1958 as a gift to the American People, sending it to its final destination via the U.S Mail in a plain brown bag. He probably figured it could take care of itself as it did keep popping up throughout history.


In 1989 Harry Winston successor, his son, Ronald, establishes Harry Winston's first series of watches, The Ultimate Timepieces. Currently Harry Winston has five main timepiece collections:
The Avenue Collection, The Ocean Collection, The Premier Collection, The Signature Collection, and The Ultimate Collection. Harry Winston has 80 years of jewelry making to apply to its watches, so that the bracelets and bezels are provided with the art of jewelry making, bearing the best possible gems, and the movement is crafted by hand. Harry Winston has introduced incredible complication crafted with the utmost perfection that has carved a niche in the world of watchmaking.


Finally I have posted the song, by Marylin Monroe, "Diamonds are a girls best friend," Listen close and Harry Winston will be mentioned.