“Harry Winston” jewelry brand is one of the most expensive and luxurious jewelry houses in the world. The luxury and nobility of Harry Winston jewelry is enough that in 2000, the price of the cheapest Harry Winston jewelry was estimated at 6 thousand dollars. For more than eight decades, Harry Winston’s name has been synonymous with the finest in jewelry. In this article, we’ll explore the history of the Harry Winston brand and everything you need to know about the most famous jewelry made by the man known as the “Jeweler to the Stars.”
Who was Harry Winston?
Harry Winston was born in New York City in 1896 to Ukrainian immigrant and goldsmith parents. Harry’s parents lived a simple life and he started working in his father’s goldsmith shop in 1908 when he was only 12 years old. A job that seemed to be mixed with his skin and blood.
At the age of 12, young Winston sees a green stone in a jewelry tray in a store. While the shop owner thought it was just a piece of glass, Winston realized at a glance that the green stone was an emerald. Winston pays 25 cents to buy it, along with another stone, so as not to tip the shopkeeper. When Winston shows his father his purchase, the older Winston is sure the rock is just a piece of glass and wants to throw it away, which Harry won’t let him do.
Only two days after discovering the emerald stone, young Winston resells the emerald for $800, which is 3,200 times the price he bought it for, and this was young Winston’s first success in buying and selling jewelry. The Winston family moved to Los Angeles in 1909 and set up their jewelry store in this area.
History of the Harry Winston brand
Harry Winston benefited from his father’s experience in the field of jewelry until the age of 20, until in 1920, when he was only 24 years old, he opened his first jewelry store in New York: the “Premier Diamond Company”, located at 535 Fifth Street, where As a new entrant in sole proprietorship, he must expand his financial resources and relationships and work day and night to develop his business.
In the late 1920s, on a train to Atlantic City, Harry Winston meets an attractive woman named Edna Fleishman, whom he eventually marries. A little later, in 1926, Harry Winston bought the jewelry collection of Arabella Huntington. Mrs. Huntington, once the richest woman in America, owned one of the most important jewelry collections of the century, famous for her strings of pearls. This transaction was done for 1.2 million dollars. Harry Winston took apart pieces from the collection to incorporate unique stones and pearls from his out-of-fashion jewelry into his own jewelry designs.
Almost 90 years later, Huntington jewelry inspired the Belle collection. Over the following years, Harry Winston added 30 other famous gemstones and jewels to his collection. By 1932, Winston had achieved an unparalleled reputation and his business had reached the top tier of the New York jewelry business. By popular demand, he began producing jewelry under his own name and opened the doors of the Harry Winston Company to the public.
In 1933, Harry Winston and Edna Fleishman finally got married after a long courtship. The impact of Edna’s presence in Harry’s life shows itself little by little in Winston’s jewelry designs; Edna Fleishman’s talent for modern and stylish aesthetics is especially evident in Winston brand ads. In 1952, Life magazine reported that Harry Winston owned the second largest collection of historical jewelry in the world. The largest jewelry collection belongs to the British royal family. Meanwhile, members of the British royal family, including the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, had purchased several pieces of Harry Winston jewelry such as the Original Jewelry Service for their collection.
Harry Winston’s name is on everyone’s lips
The famous Hollywood star Marilyn Monroe already made her name as a legend in 1953 in the not so successful movie “Men Prefer Blondes”. In the film’s theme song, “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend,” she sings “Talk to me Harry Winston.” In part of the lyrics, it was said: “Tell me everything! From New York, London, Paris and Geneva to Tokyo, Hong Kong and Shanghai, Harry Winston’s name is on everyone’s lips!
Harry Winston bought some of the most famous diamonds in the world
1- The diamond of hope; An amalgamation of evils
Harry Winston bought the Hope diamond in 1949. “Hope Diamond”, which is known as the world’s diamond king and is four centuries old, with an approximate weight of 45.5 carats, is one of the most expensive jewels in the world. Harry Winston donated this diamond to the American Museum of Natural History in 1954. If you want to know a little more about this blue diamond, which is the largest diamond in the world, it is interesting to note that this diamond has been rumored to carry a curse since ancient times. An example is Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, a merchant who later sold the diamond to Louis XIV and died of high fever and gangrene. Louis XIV, who was the next owner of this diamond, did not have a better fate than Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, and Louis XV and Louis XVI each died unexpectedly. The next owners of the Diamond of Hope were Marie Antoinette and Princess Lembally, who were also executed.
The next owner of the diamond was Henry Philip Hope. It is never known how Hope acquired the diamond. But in 1839, he recorded a jewel in his jewelry list that had a 45.5 carat diamond on it. From here, this diamond became known as “Hope Diamond” or “Hope Diamond” and is still known by this name. These adventures and strange deaths and unexpected events continued for the next owners of the Diamond of Hope, until in 1949, the Diamond of Hope was handed to Harry Winston. Since Mr. Winston took the diamond of hope home with him, he was involved in bad things; A terrible accident and a fire at his house. Finally, in 1959, Harry Winston decided to donate the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian Museum. Currently, the Hope Diamond is kept on a Cartier necklace in the Smithsonian Museum of America.
2- The precious Jonker diamond in the hands of Harry Winston
In 1932, the mystery of a 726-carat diamond makes news all over the world. After much discussion, Mr. Winston decides to send the stone to New York by registered mail for $0.64. Junker was a rough diamond from which twelve smaller diamonds were obtained; The largest of them weighs 125.35 carats. It is not bad to know that the purchase of the Junker diamond created such excitement among the American people that Mr. Winston exhibited this diamond all over the United States and the diamond was on this American tour with prominent Hollywood stars including Shirley Temple and Claudette Colbert. , the star of the movie “It Happened One Night” took a photo. The Junker Diamond was also the subject of a short film produced by MGM in 1936.
3- Stotesbury emerald
Harry Winston acquired one of the most important colored gems of his career in 1943: the Stotesbury Emerald, a hexagonal Colombian emerald weighing a remarkable 34.40 carats. The stone is named after its owner, Eva Stotesbury, a wealthy individual and the wife of a prominent financier.
4-Brillot diamond
In 1946, Mr. Harry Winston bought a D-shaped brillette diamond weighing 90.38 carats from the widow of an American benefactor. Winston bought and sold the diamond several times to important collectors around the world.
5- Diamond Taylor-Burton
In 1966, Harry Winston purchased a 241 carat diamond, which he cut into a flawless 69.42 carat pear-shaped diamond. This beautiful and unique diamond was finally bought by the famous actor Richard Burton for his wife Elizabeth Taylor, one of the most famous Hollywood actresses, and renamed the Taylor-Burton diamond. At first, this diamond was on a ring. Seeing that the diamond was too large to wear as a ring (despite the fact that Elizabeth had large hands), Elizabeth gave it to Cartier, who designed a cascading necklace with pear-shaped diamonds, with the large diamond in the center. It installed. Elizabeth Taylor wore this luxurious necklace at the Oscars in 1970.
6- Diamond Winston Legacy; Winston’s legacy
In 2013, Harry Winston’s jewelry house buys the 1.1.73 carat “Winston Legacy” diamond. At the time, Christie’s auction house described this amazing flawless pear-shaped diamond as “the most perfect diamond ever offered for sale at auction.”
7- Winston Blue diamond
In 2014, Harry Winston Jewelers purchased a rare 13.22 carat flawless blue diamond at an auction. Called Winston Blue, this magnificent pear-shaped stone is described as one of the largest diamonds of its kind.
8- Winston’s pink legacy; Legacy Diamond
In 2018, Harry Winston Jewelry purchased the rare and incredible Winston Pink Legacy Diamond, an 18.96 carat type IIa fancy pink diamond.
Unique jewelry collection of Harry Winston brand
1- Rockefeller-Winston emerald
In 2019, Harry Winston Jewelers unveiled the Rockefeller-Winston Emerald, an extraordinary 18.03 carat emerald that once belonged to the famous Rockefeller family. This exceptional gem features an 18.03 carat emerald-cut emerald-cut Colombian emerald, 108 round brilliant-cut diamonds and tears totaling approximately 10.70 carats, all mounted on 18k yellow gold clasps and a ring. Harry Winston brand unique jewelry collection.
2- The Winston Pink Legacy pink diamond ring
Earlier we talked about the pink Legacy Diamond. This amazing pink diamond of 18.96 carats, together with 2 colorless cut diamonds weighing approximately 3.55 carats, is mounted in 18 carat rose gold and platinum on a unique ring and is now considered one of the exceptional jewels of the Harry Winston brand.
3- Winston Blue diamond ring
The rare 13.22-carat flawless blue diamond purchased by Harry Winston Jewelers in 2014 sits atop a ring that is a combination of diamonds and platinum, beautifully complemented by a halo of smaller diamonds to enhance the pear-shaped beauty of this beautiful blue diamond. make it more prominent
4- Yellow Diamond necklace
In the center of this magnificent all-diamond necklace hangs a 40.81-carat brilliant yellow diamond. This exceptional yellow diamond is surrounded by 126 brilliant round, tear and marquise diamonds weighing approximately 40.09 carats and surrounded by 18 carat yellow gold and platinum.
5- Cathedral Emerald and Diamond necklace
5 pear-shaped Colombian emeralds with an approximate weight of 65.63 carats and 122 pear-shaped diamonds, baguettes and marquises with a total weight of 46.83 carats, along with platinum and 18 carat yellow gold, an emerald and diamond necklace known as the “Cathedral” from Harry brand have formed Winston. It’s worth noting that this necklace reflects the impressive neo-gothic architecture of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York, which is located directly across from Harry Winston’s first headquarters on 51st Street. Mr. Winston enjoys the view of this church every day while working and was inspired by the architecture of the church to design this famous necklace; The church, whose impressive architecture and perfect proportions continue to be a huge source of inspiration for many designers and artists.
6- The Brownstone pendant necklace
The geometric collection of the Brownstone necklace takes its elements from the beautiful brownstones of New York’s Upper West Side, where Mr. Winston was born. This pendant necklace is enlivened with round, marquise and baguette diamonds and sapphires and turquoise blue.
7- City Lights necklace
The City Light necklace was inspired by Mr. Winston and his wife’s love of theater. The City Lights necklace is a playful representation of the twinkling lights of a Broadway theater with multi-colored diamonds and sparkling gemstones in shades of royal blue, dark red and green.
8- The Central Park Mosaic ring
Mr. Winston and his team of designers were usually inspired by nature to design their jewelry. The famous “Central Park Mosaic” jewel ring consisting of an oval sapphire, 4 round aquamarines, 1 cut emerald and 3 round emeralds weighing approx. 1.05 carats with 54 square cut, baguette and round diamonds weighing approx. At 0.79 carats, it is a beautiful and modern inspiration from New York’s Central Park.
9- Love collection
In the summer of 2021, Harry Winston jewelry house unveiled its new jewelry collection titled “Love”. This luxury jewelry collection includes 39 pieces of jewelry consisting of diamonds and other precious stones. Love collection consists of four seasons, each season symbolizes one of the phases of love, and the name of each season starts with each of the four letters LOVE. In each season, the intensity of love increases: from the first sparks of love, to the passionate obsession of love, the feeling of love and eternity and the permanence of love.
Harry Winston described this collection as follows:
The power of love is unique and we have shown this unrepeatable experience with jewelry, love is a force of nature, feel free to give it as a gift.
As we said, this jewelry collection includes 39 pieces of precious and modern stones in a unique design of rings, earrings and jewelry necklaces. These four chapters are:
- L – Winston Light
- O – Winston Obsession
- V – Winston Vow
- E – Winston Eternal
For example, the name of the fourth season of this series is Eternal, which means eternity. This necklace is a beautiful representation of the intertwining of two souls, inspired by one of Winston’s old designs. 25 carats of round cut red rubies along with 25 carats of round and teardrop and marquise diamonds are intertwined in this necklace to show the eternity and permanence of love.
The jewelry that we have introduced in this section is only a part of the exceptional jewelry of the Harry Winston brand, whose main feature is the use of diamonds. Some of the other most famous jewelry of this luxury brand are: “Ruby and Diamond” Burmese ruby ring, “Paraiba and Diamond” diamond and tourmaline necklace, etc.
The most famous wedding rings in the world with Harry Winston brand diamonds
1- Almas Krup; Elizabeth Taylor’s wedding ring
Another one of the most expensive diamonds in Harry Winston’s collection was the Krupp Diamond, which weighed 33.19 carats. This diamond was worked on Elizabeth Taylor’s wedding ring. which later in 2011 and after her death was named Elizabeth Taylor diamond. This stone is a rare diamond of type IIa, other famous examples of these diamonds are “Koh Noor” and “Kulinan”. At that time, Richard Burton bought this diamond for $305,000, which is currently valued at $8.8 million.
2- Jennifer Lopez’s wedding ring with Marc Anthony
Jennifer Lopez’s massive 8.5-carat diamond, currently valued at $4.5 million, is a one-of-a-kind Harry Winston blue diamond engagement ring. This one-of-a-kind diamond ring marks J.Lo’s engagement to Mark Anthony, a famous American singer, and Jennifer Lopez’s most expensive engagement ring ever. Jennifer Lopez is said to have sold all her wedding jewelry with Anthony, but there is no evidence that this exceptional diamond ring was ever sold.
3- Paris Hilton’s wedding ring with Paris Latsis
Paris Hilton’s second engagement ring to Paris Latsis, the Greek heiress of Marla and Latsko shipping companies, was a 24-carat diamond ring for $4.7 million from Harry Winston.
4- Jacqueline Kennedy’s wedding ring; A cut of a Lesotho diamond
Harry Winston bought his last rough diamond, Lesotho, weighing 601 carats. Lesotho eventually produced eighteen magnificent jewels, including a 71.73-carat emerald and a 40.42-carat marquise diamond, which Aristotle Onassis, Jacqueline Kennedy’s second wife, bought for Jacqueline as an engagement ring. The diamond ring was sold at an auction in 1996 for $2.6 million, but today, it is worth about $20 million.
Harry Winston jewelry on the red carpet; A long-standing tradition among celebrities
Harry Winston is an aristocratic diamond and jewelry brand in the world, and naturally, the famous aristocrats and rich people are buyers of this luxury brand of jewelry. However, every year, celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez, Madonna, Julie Andrews and Natalie Portman rent Harry Winston’s luxury and expensive jewelry to attend the Oscar ceremony and the red carpet, or people like Elizabeth Taylor use their personal jewelry collection from this brand on the carpet. They used red. However, it is official that other famous jewelry brands in the world also have jewelry for famous events like the Oscars, but for the first time in 1943, Harry Winston was the first jewelry brand to lend jewelry to an actress for the Oscars.
In that year, Harry Winston set a new world in the jewelry style of the world’s most important movie event by lending his luxury jewelry to “Jennifer Jones”, a nominee for the best actress Oscar. This initiative not only made Harry Winston’s brand more popular with famous Hollywood stars, but also prompted other luxury jewelry brands to make their name more popular in this way.
In the meantime, famous stars such as Jennifer Lopez, Madonna, Amal Clooney, Helen Mirren, Natalie Portman, Jessica Alba, Elizabeth Taylor, Charlize Theron, Margot Robbie, Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Garner and Lili Reinhart were the big names who carried the Winston flag at important events. They waved a movie.
For example, at the 1999 Oscars, Jennifer Lopez wore a diamond crown necklace from the Winston Cluster jewelry collection and presented the Oscar for Best Original Song. This sparkling necklace features a dazzling array of pear, marquise and round diamonds weighing 100 carats. The weight of diamond cluster earrings in this collection was 10 carats. Lopez paired her stunning jewelry with a Badgley Mischka gown.
Natalie Portman also wore a red and black dotted dress by Christian Dior at the 2012 Oscars. She accessorized the outfit with a Harry Winston V-shaped diamond cluster necklace and a pair of 5.76 carat oval diamond earrings from the same brand.
“Elizabeth Taylor” was also one of the most famous fans of Harry Winston brand jewelry, so it is not surprising that she is at the top of the list of the 10 most famous Harry Winston brand red carpet stars. While his large private collection included a variety of Harry Winston jewels, as we mentioned at the beginning of this article, the most iconic and well-known is the Taylor-Burton diamond. Taylor wore this diamond to the Oscars in 1970 with a powder blue dress by Edith Head.
Harry Winston jewelry in Iran Jewelry Museum
It is not bad to know that “Farah Diba” wedding jewelry was also made by Harry Winston brand, including the emerald cut wedding ring, the fate of this ring is unknown. Also, on the occasion of the wedding ceremony of Farah Diba and Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, a half-crown decorated with Noor Al-Ain pink diamonds, which included a total of 324 pieces of pink, yellow and white diamonds (some of which weigh 14 to 19 carats), was commissioned to Harry Winston.
This crown was paired with a diamond necklace and teardrop-cut yellow diamond earrings, and it was often used in official ceremonies and meetings with officials of other countries. Nimtaj Noor al-Ain along with other royal jewels are now kept in Iran Jewelry Museum in Central Bank.
Harry Winston brand diamond watches
In 1932, the manufacture of Harry Winston brand jewelry watches began in collaboration with his son-in-law, “Edward Jaffe”. Winston brand diamond watches soon became so popular that they earned the nickname “jewels of time”. These watches are famous for the high quality of the engine and the artistic details in the cutting of precious stones, diamonds, gold and high quality platinum. The basic price of these watches starts from 10 thousand dollars and some of them cost up to 1 million dollars.
This company has a history of cooperation with other designers and brands such as Louis Vuitton and Tiffany in the field of making luxury jewelry watches. Premier was the first watch collection introduced by Harry Winston in 1989 and has now become the signature of Harry Winston watches. This women’s watch collection is a combination of visual creativity and technical sophistication. The Harry Winston brand soon gained a privileged position among other famous brands such as Piaget, Cartier, Chopard and other companies that manufacture luxury jewelry watches. For example, the Harry Winston Opus collection is a luxury and unique watch. Midnight, Avenue and Ocean are among the most luxurious watches of this expensive brand.
final word
Harry Winston started his business in 1920 and opened his first store in New York City in 1932. Winston’s jewelry empire began in 1926 with the purchase of Arabella Huntington’s jewelry collection for $1.2 million. In 1952, Life magazine reported that Harry Winston owned the second largest collection of historical jewelry in the world, while the largest collection was owned by the British Royal Family. Harry Winston bought the Hope diamond in 1949.
The Omid diamond, which is known as the king of diamonds in the world and is four centuries old, with an approximate weight of 45.5 carats, is one of the most expensive jewels in the world. Harry Winston donated this diamond to the American Museum of Natural History in 1954. Harry Winston Jewelry House also owns some of the most valuable and magnificent diamonds in the world. “King of Diamonds” is Harry Winston’s nickname, but Mr. Winston’s unique gemological expertise has always been beyond colorless stones and diamonds, and some of the most precious jewelry of Harry Winston Jewelry House is made with rubies, emeralds, and sapphires. Today, the Harry Winston jewelry house continues its journey with the same creativity and quality that characterized its work from the beginning with luxury branches in New York, London, Paris, Geneva, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Shanghai.
Latest Passing over countries : Spain | Dominica | United Arab Emirates
RCO NEWS
