Considered to be one of the most prestigious jewelers in the world, The House of Harry Winston began in the 1930s in New York City. With the determination to become a prestigious jeweler, Harry Winston formed his first company at the early age of 20.Today, the original New York City, 5th Avenue store serves as a salon to a select clientele, but also serves as the workshop for diamond processing. The best designers and jewelers work here to cut, polish and set gems according to Harry Winston standards.
The company also operates a salon in Los Angeles on Rodeo Drive where its close ties to Hollywood celebrities can remain tight. The California salon is where many celebrities go to choose the jewelry they will borrow for awards shows such as the Oscars, Tonys and Golden Globes.
Each year the prestigious jeweler lends hundreds of millions of dollars in diamonds to celebrities such as Halle Barry, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sharon Stone, Whoopi Goldberg, Nicolette Sheridan, Geena Davis and more. When Whoopi Goldberg hosted the Oscars in 1994, she wore over $40 million dollars in Harry Winston diamonds.
Exclusive Harry Winston salons are found across the globe in select cities such as Paris, Geneva, Tokyo, and Osaka that specialize in only the highest quality of jewels. It is common knowledge that Harry Winston salons do not offer diamond jewelry for less than $10,000 US Dollars.
However, approximately one-fifth of the company’s income is generated by less expensive jewelry that is manufactured offsite in Rhode Island and Hong Kong for sale to mass-market retailers. These secondary market retailers are forbidden to reveal the source of the merchandise in order to preserve the Harry Winston reputation for exclusive quality jewelry.
When Harry Winston established his second business in 1932, he had already experienced the jewelry business. His father was a Ukrainian immigrant who had opened a jewelry retail and repair shop in Manhattan’s upper west side in 1890. Jacob Winston taught his son everything he knew and Harry seemed to have a natural knack at identifying valuable stones.
When Harry was seven, his mother died and just one year later his father packed up the family and moved to the West Coast. The move, prompted by Jacob’s health problems, he opened a jewelry store in the Los Angeles business district at a critical time.
Story has it that at the tender age of 12, Harry Winston noticed a 2 carat emerald ring mixed among a tray of junk jewelry in a pawnshop window. Knowing he had found a real gem, he bought the ring for a mere 25 cents and sold it two days later for $800. By the age of 15, Harry dropped out of school and went to work for his father full-time.
When Harry was 18, he moved back to New York with his father and opened another jewelry store in Manhattan. Jacob Winston would continue to operate that jewelry store until just before his death in 1929. With about $2,000 in savings from his California enterprises, Harry began to operate a jewelry business of his own. He bought and sold diamonds on the New York Diamond Exchange, and was quite successful.
At the age of 18, he started his first company, The Premier Diamond Company. In just 2 years, Harry Winston doubled his $10,000 in capital to another $20,000; unfortunately, an employee ran off with his money and inventory. Harry quickly recovered though, and with bank financing and was soon back in the game.
In 1925, Harry held his first successful estate sale. Purchasing estate jewelry and then recutting and placing in new modern settings, Harry was quickly noticed for his expertise. When he purchased the famed collection of mining tycoon B.J. “Lucky” Baldwin, he acquired the largest diamond ever sold at a U.S. public auction – a 39-carat-emerald-cut diamond. The collection also included a 26 carat ruby that was one of the largest in the world.
By 1932, Winston established Harry Winston, Inc. and firmly set his place as one of the most prestigious jewelers in the world. Then, in 1935 he paid $700,000 for the famed 726 carat Jonker diamond, mined by De Beers.
Winston risked his entire business when he proclaimed he would cut the enormous diamond into smaller diamonds to be put up for sale. No one believed that the diamond could be successfully cut and Winston could not obtain insurance for the diamond. Following the advice of a Russian-born Lazare Kaplan and expert diamond cutter, the diamond was successfully cut into 12 diamonds.
The largest diamond from the original rough diamond would end up a heft 126.65 carats. Winston successfully sold the smaller diamonds for a total of $2 million – realizing an enormous profit.
From that point on, no one doubted the expertise and natural instinct of Harry Winston. Today, decades following his passing, his sons continue the tradition and commitment to quality that Winston built his prestigious company on.
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