The story behind every piece of jewellery is, at its core, a story of people – each stone, each curve, each flourish a chapter in an intricate chronicle of connections between the miners, dealers, artisans and, ultimately, the wearer. When it comes to a Graff creation, that story begins with Laurence Graff, who founded the eponymous London jewellery house 65 years ago.

The tale behind one of his first coups begins with £60 and the 33 small diamonds it fetched at a London gem dealer in the late 1950s. “Instead of making 33 individual rings, I placed them all on one ring, creating a big flash of diamonds,” recalls Graff. “I sold the ring to a jeweller in the north of England, who called me immediately after my return to London to say he had sold the ring and wanted to order another.” A risky design, indeed, for the 18-year-old, who had just begun training under a Hatton Garden jeweller a few years earlier. The courageous creation was one of a series of risks that would pay off: by 1962, he had opened two boutiques in London under his name – a remarkable feat at a time when jewellers typically traded through retailers rather than brand-owned stores.

Laurence Graff

But Graff’s knack for the business and daring sense of artistry was only the first chapter – one perhaps eclipsed by his singular obsession with rare gems and their potential. “I truly believe that working with diamonds is what I was born to do,” muses Graff, who, across the past few decades, has worked with some of the most magnificent stones ever discovered – including the 1974-acquired 47.39ct Star of Bombay and, most recently, the magnificent 13.51ct Fancy Intense Yellow diamond at the heart of The Gift of Love, the latest High Jewellery piece from the house that debuted at Paris Haute Couture Week in Paris this year.

Herewith, a look at some of the most bedazzling diamonds to have passed through Graff’s vaunted atelier across the decades.

 

The Wittelsbach-Graff, 2009

Before running dry in the 19th century, the mines of Golconda, India, were the source of some of the world’s most coveted stones – among them, a 35.6-carat grey-blue diamond, which later became part of the dowry of Infanta Margarita Teresa of Spain when she wed Emperor Leopold I of Austria in 1666. It eventually trickled down to Bavaria’s reigning Wittelsbach family, who mounted the gem into its crown – where it remained until financial hardship led to its attempted sale in 1931. It would be another 20 years before a buyer would emerge, two of a number of hands it would pass through until Graff snapped it up at a 2008 Christie’s auction for £16.4 million. Despite industry scepticism, the jeweller made the bold decision to enhance its colour and clarity by recutting and repolishing the gem, which had been GIA-certified as a Fancy Deep Greyish Blue, a highly sought-after colour classification. The transformed Wittelsbach-Graff would make history as the largest Natural Fancy Deep Blue Internally Flawless diamond ever graded by the GIA.

 

The Graff Pink, 2010

Fifteen years ago, this 24.78ct diamond reappeared at a Geneva auction more than 60 years after it disappeared into a private collection. A GIA assessment revealed its potential to become flawless through repolishing, yet Laurence Graff understood the process would be delicate and risky as 25 inclusions were scattered across the surface. But he was confident in his craftspeople, who meticulously removed the flaws with minimal weight loss (the resulting stone weighed in at 23.88 carats) while preserving its symmetry. The artisans also succeeded in intensifying the diamond’s hue, achieving the coveted Fancy Vivid Pink grade.

 

The Delaire Sunrise, 2010

Graff has played a pivotal role in making yellow diamonds fashionable – aided, of course, by Mother Earth, who has bestowed the house with some of the most exceptional stones found in her depths. Discovered in South Africa in 2009, the Delaire Sunrise captivated Laurence Graff with its radiant golden hue and the potential for a square emerald-cut design. The result was a one-of-a-kind 118.08ct Fancy Vivid Yellow diamond, the largest square emerald-cut stone of its kind in the world, which Graff named after the sunrises of his cherished Delaire Graff Estate in Stellenbosch Valley in South Africa.

 

The Graff Lesedi La Rona, 2019

Clocking in at 302.37 carats, the world’s largest square emerald-cut diamond was crafted from the extraordinary 1,109ct Lesedi La Rona, which means “our light” in Tswana and counts as one of the largest rough diamonds ever discovered. Alongside the Graff Lesedi La Rona, 66 exquisite satellite stones were polished from the rough, ranging from under a carat to over 26 carats. François Graff, chief executive officer, remarks: “Several were set as magnificent single-stone rings. Each diamond is laser-engraved with ‘Graff Lesedi La Rona’ and its unique GIA number, accompanied by certificates from Graff and the GIA. Our clients who purchased one of them truly own a piece of diamond history.”

 

The Infinity Diamond, 2021

When Graff acquired the 373ct rough diamond from Botswana’s Karowe mine, his team of gemmologists envisioned creating the world’s largest heart-shaped diamond. Weighing 157.80 carats and boasting exceptional D colour, VVS1 clarity and flawless symmetry, it was dubbed “The Infinity” in celebration of Laurence Graff’s boundless dedication to the art of diamonds. “We designed a tiara of spectacular rarity with fluid and sculptural lines arranged to compel the eye towards the luminous beauty of The Infinity,” says Graff, whose team cradled the stone on a bespoke mount, allowing the diamond to be worn within the headpiece or as the centrepiece of a breathtaking pendant. “When I saw it for the first time, I knew that this was one of the greatest tiaras in the world,” comments Graff’s design director Anne-Eva Geffroy.

Photo Credit: © GRAFF, DAVID BURTON / TRUNKARCHIVE.COM (PORTRAIT)