Harry Winston jewelry was founded in 1920, and it’s a luxury brand in the United States owned by The Swatch Group.
The first store was opened in New York in 1932 and has graced the market with handcrafted wedding and engagement rings.
Many couples struggle with finding the right ring for their occasion and end up settling for less.
In this post, we will look at this luxury brand in detail and what it has to offer. You will learn all about its versatile jewelry collection, so keep reading.
About Harry Winston jewelry
The Harry Winston jewelry brand has been around for over 15 decades and has managed to captivate the world with its amazing jewelry collection.
What makes this collection luxurious, is the diamonds added to each piece, including the luxurious watches. This brand features some of the world’s finest diamonds and precious stones. The founder, Harry Winston, is fondly called the king of diamonds.
The story of this multimillion-dollar company is interesting and inspirational. The founder began his fascination with precious stones at the age of 12. In 1908, Harry Winston bought a lousy stone from a pawn shop for only 25 cents.
True to his instincts, the stone turned out to be an emerald, and he sold it for a clean $800 the next day. It is said that Winston carried expensive diamonds in his pocket just to feel them around his body.
The expert jewelers have created a name for their creativity and high quality over the years. The most popular Harry Winston pieces of jewelry are the luxurious wedding and engagement rings.
The rinds are handcrafted with diamonds to suit each couple’s taste. The history of this company spans decades of passionate work from the founder, Harry Winston whose fascination for precious stones and diamonds birthed this jewelry empire.
The sentiments of the founding jeweler have inspired the bridal collection of this brand. Winston believed that love was to be celebrated with brilliant, superior diamonds to signify its intensity and commitment.
This company has a team of expert gemologists that go to the ends of the earth to find the best diamonds. The Harry Winston diamonds are graded according to cut, clarity, color, and carat.
This brand has handcrafted jewelry for royalty, celebrities, and thousands of lovebirds worldwide. The founder, Harry Winston was a member of the Jewelry council and ensured that all gemstones were ethically sourced, a practice that is carried on to date.
Who Owns Harry Winston jewelry?
The Harry Winston jewelry is currently owned by the Swatch Group, after acquiring the original Harry Winston Inc. in 2013.
This new company took over all the Harry Winston activities, including all the jewelry and the 535 employees under Harry Winston worldwide. Swatch Group is a Swiss-based jewelry manufacturer that was founded in 1983 after the merger of SSIH and ASUAG.
The company assumed ownership of the luxury jewelry company for $750 million and an additional $250,000 in debt, totaling the acquisition to $1 billion. Initially, Swatch was world-famous for making finished watches before it acquired the luxury brand.
Swatch group boasts over 29,000 employees worldwide in 50 locations and was founded by watcher, Nicolas Hayek. In 2021, this company had a net income of $774 million.
However, the mining locations in the Northern Canadian Territory remained under Harry Winston Diamond Corp, which operates as a mining company and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2007.
After the successful acquisition, the company retained the brand name, Harry Winston for marketing reasons. The founder, Harry Winston, passed away on December 28, 1978.
The company currently runs salons in Paris, Tokyo London, Hong Kong, Singapore, Beijing, Shanghai, New York, and Beverly Hills.
Is Harry Winston a luxury brand?
Yes, Harry Winston is a luxury brand that has produced the most luxurious jewelry in the world. It has set the pace for the production of the finest diamond jewelry and luxury watches.
Initially, the company was solely a jewelry brand until its acquisition by Swatch Group, which produces the world’s best luxury watches.
The value of the Harry Winston brand’s worldwide salons is approximately $746 million. The luxury of this brand began in 1944 when Harry Winston was requested to lend actress Jennifer Jones jewelry for the red carpet at the Academy Awards.
It has attracted members of loyal families, celebrities, and elite members of society who can afford luxury diamonds. A luxury brand is characterized by high prices, exclusive products, and high quality, which is the complete description of Harry Winston.
While luxury brands do not offer essential goods, these products hold high value and prestige to buyers, making them very expensive. When purchasing a wedding ring, you will need to part with $20,000 to $ 30,000.
The pricing is determined by the 4C’s in diamond grading. Diamonds are the most expensive precious stones in the world, making Harry Winston a luxury brand without question.
The decades of experience for this brand have also elevated its status. The whole of Hollywood and the high society have made at least one purchase at Harry Winston.
Arab princes from the oil Arabian dynasties have also donned Harry Winston jewelry or made extravagant purchases for their wives.
How much is Harry Winston company worth?
In 2013, the company was acquired by Swatch Group for a whopping $1 billion. It has been listed among the most expensive diamond companies in the world.
Harry Winston’s appetite for the best and rarest diamonds in the world saw the purchase of the only flawless diamond in the world with a weight of 100 carats at an eye-watering price of $27 million.
In 2021, Swatch Group made $7.31 billion in revenues. This shows its tremendous growth, and it’s only expected to rise in the coming days.
The company has two workshops in the heart of New York City.
Where did Harry Winston get his diamonds?
Harry Winston acquired the rarest diamonds in the world from famous wealthy people like Thelma Chrysler and the Foy Estate and any worthy piece across the globe.
Chrysler was the estate of Chrysler heiress, and the diamond was 62 carats. Winston took it and recut it into a 58-carat fabless diamond. The Oval Sapphire diamond was 151 carats when Winston acquired it.
In 1926, Winston made another landmark acquisition from Arabella Huntington. In 1934, a South African miner by the name of Jonker, discovered a 726-carat rough, and as we would expect, Winston outbid all his competitors and acquired the diamond.
In 1938, a similar rough named Vargas was discovered in Brazil and Winston took the net flight to Brazil to get it. All these acquisitions would later be cut into flawless diamonds.
In 1949, Winston made a purchase of the Hope diamond from Evalyn Walsh’s estate, and he exhibited it worldwide before donating it to the Smithsonian Institute.
The title, king of diamonds, was bestowed upon him in 1947 by Cosmopolitan magazine. Winston began collecting diamonds from estates in 1925 with his first one being the Rebecca Darlington Stoddard.
The world came to know Winston as the world’s purveyor of the most exceptional diamonds. In 2013, the Harry Winston brand acquired a 101-carat flawless diamond and named it The Winston Legacy.
Other notable cuttings are The Washington and The Star of Independence. Today, Harry Winston diamonds are sourced from the most lucrative mines in the world.
Where is harry Winston jewelry made?
The Harry Winton jewelry is made in New York in two workshops in the heart of the city. One of the State-of-the-art facilities is located in New York City’s heart.
Inside you will find artisans who have exclusively worked for Harry Winston jewelry for more than 40 years and new talent alike.
This workshop received a makeover in 2012 in its 2700 square-feet space. The second workshop is in the historic Diamond District in New York. This facility boasts 16,500 square feet of space.
Notable brands born in this area include Winston Gates and HW Logo collections.
All the jewelry retailed worldwide is handcrafted in these two locations and distributed to all the locations.
These locations are no coincidence, as Harry Winston was born in New York and worked in his father’s jewelry shop on the west side of the city.
Conclusion
Harry Winston jewelry has retained its mark in the jewelry world for almost a century.
The founder set the pace by acquiring the world’s most precious diamonds and cutting them into luxurious pieces that are still seen today.
The current owners have not neglected the culture of this luxury brand and have continued from where the previous owners left.
In the past, jewelry was collected by remarkable people like the Princess of Windsor and famous actresses.
Today, Hollywood and the elite society flock to this luxury brand for diamonds.
An engagement ring will set you back $27,000 or more, depending on the type of diamond in it.
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Stephanie is a jewelry lover when she was a teenager. Her major was fashion design when she was in college. She is a jewelry designer at SOQ Jewelry and other design companies. Now she is also a writer for our website. She writes a lot of designs&brands posts with very actionable tips.