Graff Recreates ‘Hair & Jewel’ With Half-Billion-Dollar Diamond Bejeweled Hairdo

Famed diamond jeweler, Laurence Graff, recreated a legacy statement Tuesday that helped to propel his brand to the forefront of the luxury world.

Known as “Hair & Jewel,” Graff in 1970 unveiled a photo of a model wearing an ornate coiffure decorated with $1 million dollars of diamonds and precious gems. The photo received international attention and became a landmark promotion for Graff Diamonds, founded only 10 years earlier.

“Until this time, images showing fine jewelry were typically modeled in a more conservative style,” Graff said in a statement. “This image broke the mould by using a younger model and created the idea of diamonds being aspirational to younger women.”

The Graff name is now known throughout the world and to celebrate the man behind the brand’s 60th year in the jewelry industry he recreated Hair & Jewel, only this time using $500 million worth of precious jewels. It’s a clear statement by Graff using a memorable promotion to show the world how far he has come.

"It is more than 40 years since the original image of Hair & Jewel was captured," Graff said. "The recreation marks an important milestone in Graff Diamonds’ history and coincides with the opening of its 40th store globally."

The hair of model Dalia Gunther was crafted by Eamonn Hughes using 22 rare jewels created at Graff’s headquarters in London. The image was photographed by David Slijper. The jewels used for the recreation include the following:

* Graff “Sweethearts” earrings featuring 51.53-carat and 50.76-carat D color Flawless type IIA heart shape diamonds;

* A selection of jewelry crafted from the 550ct Letšeng Star, the 14th largest white rough diamond ever discovered;

* A 10.47-carat fancy vivid blue internally flawless briolette diamond pendant;

* A 52.73-carat fancy vivid yellow emerald cut diamond ring; and

* A 6.51-carat fancy intense pink internally flawless oval cut diamond ring.

Below is a promotional video from Graff Diamonds showing the Hair & Jewel recreation.



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10.6-Carat Fancy Blue Diamond Has an Asking Price of $9.8 Million

The "Royal Blue" diamond

A 10.6-carat fancy blue diamond known as the “Royal Blue” is available through M.S. Rau Antiques in New Orleans. The asking price is $9.8 million.
 
Blue diamonds are among the rarest in the world so it seems unusual that this cut-corned, modified brilliant cut gem is the second significant blue diamond to appear on sale in August. A week earlier, Sotheby’s Hong Kong announced that it is offering a 7.59-carat round fancy vivid blue diamond that is estimated to fetch $19 million.

This stone has a VVS1 clarity grade, notable for having “very, very slight” inclusions, according to the report from the Gemological Institute of America. It is one step away from being graded as “internally flawless” under the GIA scale. The chemical that creates the blue in diamonds is boron, which this gem has.

The diamond is set on a platinum and rose gold ring surrounded by vivid pink and colorless diamonds.

Fewer than 0.3 percent of all colored diamonds graded by GIA were predominately blue. Gem expert and dealer Robert Procop, also the co-designer of Style of Jolie jewels with Angelina Jolie, knows as much as anyone when it comes to the rarity and historical significance of these gems.

“Blue diamonds are rarely discovered and only a few have been found over centuries of mining, making it one of the rarest gems of the world,” he said. “(They) have also been the most gifted by royalty and historical figures making them the most mysterious and precious of jewels. I rarely see a blue diamond that I do not admire.”

Large fancy blue diamonds have been sold for record-breaking figures at auctions and other sales, several have had illustrious provenance through its mine origins and ownership throughout centuries. The most famous blue is the Hope Diamond, last purchased by famed luxury jeweler, Harry Winston, who donated it to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in 1958.

The asking price for the “Royal Blue” ring is more than $924,500 per carat, which seems a bit steep, particularly since it has no known provenance. However, it is only about half of the per-carat price of a 5.30 blue diamond purchased by another famed jeweler, Laurence Graff, at a Bonhams auction in London in April 2013. The final price was $9.6 million or $1.8 million per carat.

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Laurence Graff Receives Order of the British Empire

Laurence Graff, founder of the one world’s most successful jewelry brands, has received one of the highest honors awarded by the British Monarchy. He has been named to Queen Elizabeth II’s Birthday Honors List, receiving a “Most Excellent Order of the British Empire” for his “Services to Jewelry.”

The OBE recognizes distinguished service to the arts and sciences and public services outside the civil service and work with charitable and welfare organizations.

The 75-year-old chairman of Graff Diamonds began his career in jewelry at the age of 15 working as a jeweler’s apprentice in London’s Hatton Garden. Sixty years later the British-born billionaire leads a global luxury jewelry business with boutiques in UK and Europe, North America, Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

Also during this time, he has taken ownership of some of the world’s rarest and most precious diamonds and gemstones, including the Wittelsbach-Graff, the Idol’s Eye, the Imperial Blue, the Blue Ice, the Magnificence, the Graff Pink, the Delaire Sunrise, the Graff Constellation, the Flame and the Graff Sweethearts.

“From humble beginnings and a lifetime working in the industry, I am extremely proud to receive such an honor,” Graff said. “I was born to be amongst diamonds, they are my true passion and this passion translates into everything I do.”

A total of 1,180 people were named on the Birthday Honors list, released June 15. The British Honors System is made up of five awards of differing rank. In descending order, they are as follows:

* Knight Grand Cross or Dame Grand Cross of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (GBE)
* Knight Commander or Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (KBE or DBE)
* Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE)
* Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE)
* Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE)

The highest two ranks entitle its recipient to become a knight or dame.

The awards are presented twice each year in June (Queen’s Birthday Honors) and on New Year’s Eve.

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Graff Luxury Watches At Basel

Diamond MasterGraff Tourbillon

Graff Diamonds doesn’t sell wholesale or deal with the watch and jewelry trade. So there was no reason for the brand founded by Laurence Graff to have a presence at Baselworld 2013. However, company representatives did come to Basel during the fair to show its newest collection of luxury timepieces to press members in a nearby hotel suite.

As one would expect from the London-based jeweler—known for purchasing some of the most valuable diamonds and gems in the world—the watches on display were big and bold with plenty of diamonds and gems. Gold and DLC were used for bezels shaped in a notable faceted motif that has the appearance of a single diamond, with lugs serving as prongs that would hold the “diamond” in place. These are more than just show pieces, however, as the majority of these watches contain branded calibers and high-end complications.

Even when adding the bling factor, there’s also a refinement to the pieces, a notable design trait of Graff products.

MasterGraff Minute Repeater Tourbillon
This 47mm mechanical timepiece showcases two horological complications. The dial is made of mother of pearl dial in a radial-carved motif. In addition to navy blue, the dial is available in black and white. The minute repeater element is triggered by an upward push on a slide positioned on the side of the case. Two hammers striking two gongs sound the hours, quarter hours and minutes. A flying tourbillon is revealed at 6 o’clock encircled by a small seconds disc. It’s limited to 100 pieces.


Diamond MasterGraff Tourbillon (top photo)
The mechanical movement of this 45mm watch has complications that include a tourbillion displayed at 9 o’clock. But really, this timepiece is about Graff’s diamond expertise. A total of 634 diamonds in 20 shapes weighing 47 carats were used to cover the watch. The dial features a radiating pattern of baguette cut diamonds, with the 120 hour power reserve displayed in emerald, yellow sapphire and ruby. Emeralds circle the dial, acting as hour markers. The case and strap are covered with more diamonds in Graff’s patented mosaic design, framed by diamond set lugs and baguette links. It’s limited to 30 pieces.

GraffStar Grand Date
The Graff Caliber 1 mechanical movement, made in Switzerland for Graff, powers this watch. Along with hours and minutes, the movement provides the date– shown in large numerals at 12 o’clock, the seconds on a sub-dial at 9 and a 50-hour power reserve indicator at 6. The DLC case (also available in white and rose gold) is faceted to appear as a single diamond with the lugs serving as prongs. The dial is in black guilloché with a multi-level design and gold indicators. It is limited to 100 pieces.

 

GraffStar Slim
The black dial set with a triangular emerald at 12 o’clock has gold hour markers set in gold. Inside the 43mm white gold case is the mechanical Graff Calibre 3 Swiss movement. The faceted case has a thickness of 6.35mm. It is also available in rose and with a white dial.

ChronoGraff 45mm
The black dial has a guilloché pattern that contrasts against gold disks that move to reveal each chronograph indicator and the 60 second dial. At 12 o’clock is a triangular emerald marker. It’s housed in Graff’s signature faceted case, available in various combinations of yellow gold, white gold and DLC. The dial also is available in white. It’s limited to 300 pieces.

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Graff to Unveil 120-Carat, $100 Million Colored Diamond Peacock Brooch

Graff Peacock made with 120.81 carats of colored and colorless diamonds.

Graff Diamonds will unveil a $100 million diamond peacock brooch Friday at the TEFAF art fair in Maastricht, Netherlands. A total of 120.81 carats of colored diamonds adorn the brooch, which measures a little over 10cm in height (about 4 inches).

At the center of the brooch is a 20.02-carat fancy deep blue pear shape diamond, one of the rarest blue diamonds in the world, according to the luxury diamond jewelry company. It is surrounded by white and colored Graff diamonds—set by master craftsmen at Graff’s London workshop. The peacock’s tail feathers are set with various-sized fancy white, yellow, blue and orange diamonds. The tip of each feather is adorned with white diamonds in a flowery bloom.

The piece has a clasp in the rear that allows for the blue diamond centerpiece to be removed and worn separately.

In myth and legend the peacock has long carried portents of nobility, guidance and good luck. This colorful diamond peacock also provides beautiful adornment.

The TEFAF Maastricht art fair opens Friday and runs till March 24.

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Laurence Graff Buys 50-Ct. Diamond for Third Time, Pays $8.3 Million

50-ct. Graff diamond. Photo credit: CHRISTIE'S IMAGES LTD.

A 50-carat, rectangular-cut, D-color, potentially flawless diamond ring by Graff sold for $8.37 million at Christie’s New York Magnificent Jewels auction Tuesday. The buyer? Laurence Graff.

“This is the third time that I have owned this beautiful diamond and I am as thrilled today as I was the first time. Diamonds of this exceptional caliber have a life and legacy that carries on beyond us all,” Graff said in a statement after the sale. “This is one of the finest D-color diamonds in the world and I am delighted to have it back again.”

The diamond’s estimated sale price was $7-10 million. It sold for $167,400 per carat.

3.15-ct. reddish-orange diamond. Photo credit: CHRISTIE'S IMAGES LTD.

The final lot of the auction was a rare fancy reddish-orange diamond of 3.15 carats. The stone is the largest reddish orange diamond ever graded at the Gemological Institute of America. Exhibiting two of the rarest hues in the world of diamonds, the price soared beyond its low estimate of $700,000 to sell for nearly $2.1 million, setting a new world auction record for a reddish-orange diamond and a new per-carat record price of $666,200.

 Earlier in the sale, Christie’s realized a new per-carat record for a Kashmir sapphire at auction, with the sale of an 8.91 carat sapphire for $1.37 million, or $154,000 per carat (pictured left).

The day-long sale realized a total of $32.5 million, with sell-through rates of 84 percent by lot and 86 percent by value. This sale result, combined with results from Christie’s New York jewels auctions in April, June and October, brings the 2012 New York jewelry auction total to more than $163 million, the auction house estimated. The full 2012 total for the jewelry category will be announced in January 2013 as part of Christie’s annual corporate figures release.

10.5-ct. ring set with a rectangular-cut diamond flanked on either side by three baguette-cut diamonds mounted in platinum. Gemological Institute of America report states that the diamond is D color, VVS1 clarity. Estimate $800,000 - $1.2 million. Price realized, $938,500. Photo credit: CHRISTIE'S IMAGES LTD.

For the year in New York, Christie’s said it sold 29 jewels over the $1 million mark, of which four jewels sold for more than $7 million. In April, Christie’s sold a collection of 17 Art Deco period jewels from the estate of the reclusive American copper heiress Huguette M. Clark. The sale realized $20.8 million and saw a new U.S. auction record achieved for The Clark Pink, the most expensive pink diamond ever sold at auction in the United States.

Art Deco sapphire and diamond Bracelet by Paul Flato. Designed as an openwork rectangular-cut sapphire and diamond bricklink band, mounted in platinum, circa 1935. Estimate $120,000 - $180,000. Price realized, $338,500. Photo credit: CHRISTIE'S IMAGES LTD.

Diamond and onyx cuff bracelet by Verdura. The wide onyx cuff set at the top with an old mine and rose-cut diamond plaque, mounted in silver and gold. Estimate $35,000 - $55,000. Price realized, $47,500. Photo credit: CHRISTIE'S IMAGES LTD.

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