Graff Unmistakably

2007: Here is a 101 course for beginners from Laurence Graff, one of the most famous and successful jewelers in the world.

(via Indiaqua, 49, 1988/1) Natacha Vassiltchikov writes:

“The secret of my success…”, he said with a slight smile, “I would say first, hard work; secondly, devotion to the industry; and thirdly, reinvestment of the profits into the business. And then, of course, my satisfaction lies in the feeling I have for the gem. I always think that if I’m good to the commodity, it will be good to me.”

In these few words spoken without the slightest hesitation, Laurence Graff, fortyish, of medium build, with piercing dark eyes and ready smile, has summed up the essential qualities which have enabled him—in less than thirty years—to become the leader a new generation of jewelers in the world. The only decoration of the simply furnished but comfortable room in which he receives me is a portrait of himself. He emanates an unassuming though confident awareness of the exclusiveness of both his business and his clientele. He moves quickly, speaks quickly, and seems to have mastered the art of answering questions in the shortest, most concise, and at the same time, most non-commital manner. Yet while visibly an extremely busy man, he retains the courteous affability of someone who is willing to allocate the same importance and time to everyone.

Laurence Graff entered the jewelry business at the age of fourteen when he became an apprentice in Hatton Garden. This early start was not in response to any kind of vocation. It was the result of a common decision by a humble family of English origin who considered the diamond industry a good way of making a living. “It could have been anything else.”

He made his beginning in repairing, and gradually but quickly climbed all the steps of the trade. He soon created and sold his first diamond ring, the profits of which allowed him to produce two more, then three, and so on….until he was able to buy polished stones. At seventeen and a half he had to set up his own business. He gained initial official recognition in 1973 when he became the first jeweler to be presented with the Queen’s Award to Industry. This was followed by a further tribute when he received the 1977 Queen’s Award for Export Achievements.

Today the House of Graff deals in London—its central establishment—Geneva, New York, Tokyo and specified in the brochures, “worldwide by appointment.” It organizes exhibitions from South America to the Far East, and stages in London private viewings for royalty and other celebrities. By operating worldwide, it has acquired a selective clientele whose taste for stones of high and rare quality it seeks to satisfy.

The bulk of the business consists naturally of diamonds. ‘It is harder to find really beautiful gems among other stones. Whereas with diamonds one can actually deal at the top. Besides, the diamond is translucent, brilliant….It is also fascinating, because of its unique variety of colors and shapes….”

“Diamonds are my hobby,” Laurence Graff adds. “I measure their value not only scientifically but also inwardly, through feeling, with the heart.” This respect and reverence which he expresses for top quality stones is best reflected in the style which he confers to his jewelry. Extremely classical, he adorns his pieces with the simplest of settings, giving full scope to their bare and natural beauty. He vehemently condemns the marking of stones (a recent practice designed to thwart theft): “Why damage a flawless gem?” He also refuses to adhere to changing fashions and trends. Despite the rise in price which big stones have recently undergone, he does not believe in enhancing the appearance of smaller pieces by fitting them into heavier mountings. “We do not cater to changing taste…We expect our clients to come and buy out style.” Laurence Graff relies therefore primarily on a select but top rate clientele, to which he offers an ever-fresh supply of gems going across the whole range of colors and shapes. “We have to be in the front line all the time.”

Achieving this goal requires not only diligence, dedication to and love the stone, but also a sound sense of judgment and discernment. Laurence Graff is the first to recognize that the value of a piece of jewelry is relative. As he explains, every diamond is—in comparative terms—of high price. For a humble person the first half carat is expensive. At the same time, for a rich man, the first thirty carats is expensive. “The real challenge for us is not whether our client can buy one diamond, but whether he can carry on buying diamonds.” The obvious way to encourage this development is to convince people that diamonds are a store of wealth. But even failing this—as, for instance, during the crash of 1980—Laurence Graff is confident that “attraction of great beauty is endless and no matter what the cost, there will always be a buyer for even the most ‘priceless’ of jewels.”

The 1980 collapse was indeed a major disaster which profoundly hurt the business. Not only did it damage the diamond’s image as a secure investment—De Beers’ famous slogan “a diamond is forever”—but it affected the availability and price of the big stones which remained locked until the jeweler’s safes and bank vaults until the prices started moving up again. Laurence Graff admits that for several years he himself did not buy a single D flawless one carat stone. Another adverse consequence of the crash which he deplores is the disruption of the orderly level of supply which De Beers had succeeded in maintaining until then. Although the cutters keep complaining about the shortage of large stones on the market, Laurence Graff himself believes on the contrary that a certain degree of scarcity is healthy. He is, in fact, worried that the present level of supply may have risen again too high.

But he does not see the Far Eastern market as replacing that of the Arab countries. Graff has five franchise boutiques in Japan, which mainly sell lower priced articles. Laurence Graff has often been asked how he can part with jewels into which he puts so much love and work. He admits that each one of them constitutes a little part of his life. “It is like a baby, it becomes one of the family. I choose the stones, create the piece, live with it for a while, and it has to be a one hundred percent success for me to make up my mind to sell it. By selling the best pieces, we get the best clients.”

For all this, Laurence Graff never completely detaches himself from his rarest and most important stones. Indeed he has had made up a collection of some twenty to thirty perfect reproductions of his finest gems. In a time consuming operation, he has sought to retain their exact color, shape, cut and number of facets. As he smilingly concludes: ‘You asked me whether I grew attached to the pieces I create. Well here now you can see—just how every attached I get.”