Harry Winston: The King of Diamonds

Harry Winston was the “King of Diamonds”: the dealer who owned more of the world’s famous stones than anyone of his century, and the jeweller who made diamonds part of Hollywood. His name is a byword for spectacular stones, and his story is one of the great tales of twentieth-century jewellery.

Early life and a diamond empire

Harry Winston was born in New York in 1896 and learned the trade in his father’s small jewellery shop. His talent was for buying: he made his name in the 1920s buying estate jewellery, including the collection of the heiress Arabella Huntington, and resetting old stones in modern designs. He founded Harry Winston, Inc. in 1932.

Iconic acquisitions

Winston bought, cut and sold an astonishing number of famous diamonds.

The Hope Diamond

Winston bought the Hope Diamond, the famous blue diamond, in 1949, and in 1958 gave it to the Smithsonian Institution, sending it by ordinary registered post. It is still there today.

The Jonker Diamond

In 1935 he bought the 726-carat Jonker rough diamond, found in South Africa, and had it cut into a dozen stones, a process followed by newspapers around the world.

The Lesotho Diamond

In 1967 a 601-carat diamond was found in Lesotho. Winston bought it and had it cut into eighteen stones; one of them, a marquise of around 40 carats, became Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’s engagement ring.

The Taylor-Burton Diamond

The 69-carat pear-shaped diamond that Richard Burton bought for Elizabeth Taylor in 1969 had been cut by Harry Winston’s firm from a rough of more than 240 carats.

Revolutionising design

Winston’s approach was to let the diamonds lead. His famous cluster designs, said to have been inspired by a holly wreath, set stones on fine platinum wire so that the metal almost disappears, creating the look of diamonds floating together.

The AJC isn’t afraid of jewel delivery by mail either. We offer free worldwide delivery on all orders, although we’re a lot more careful than using simple brown paper!

Harry Winston and Hollywood

In 1944 Harry Winston lent jewels to the actress Jennifer Jones for the Academy Awards, beginning the tradition of jewellers dressing stars for the red carpet. Marilyn Monroe immortalised him in “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend”.

Royal clients and heads of state

His clients included royal families and heads of state from Europe to the Middle East and Asia, many of whom bought great stones from him privately.

Harry Winston understood that the stone is the star. Good jewellery lets a diamond speak, and he never forgot that.
Olly Gerrish, AJC Founder

A lasting legacy

Harry Winston died in 1978, but the firm he founded continues, now part of the Swatch Group. Signed Harry Winston jewels are rare on the antique market and command a considerable premium.

Our view

Few of us will own a Winston diamond, but his way of setting stones, with as little metal as possible, is exactly what we admire in the best Edwardian and Art Deco platinum rings. See our antique diamond engagement rings and read about the Cullinan Diamond.