More than a dozen de Grisogono jewelers collaborated on Creation 1. Image credit: De Grisogono
Swiss jeweler de Grisogono is demonstrating its creativity and expertise in an effort that started with a 404-carat diamond, one of the 30 largest rough-cut stones ever discovered.
The 404-carat diamond was found in Angola and was revealed by the Swiss jeweler to much fanfare during the 2016 Cannes Film Festival as a still rough-cut stone. Due to the size of the diamond, de Grisogono was given a rare opportunity to tout its savoir-faire by being involved in the decision-making process for the cutting of the precious gem, whereas traditional jewelry making relies on pre-cut, already polished stones.
Creation stories
At the time of the diamond’s revealing, de Grisogono filmed a short video that showed its founder Fawaz Gruosi opening the vault where the stone was kept, before offering viewers a closer look.
In the clip, Mr. Gruosi discussed the diamond’s possibilities while footage shows the science behind assessing and cutting the stone. At the end of the film, Mr. Gruosi mentions three pillars de Grisogono clients have come to expect: “creativity, manufacturing point-of-view and a bit of glamour” (see story).
De Grisogono’s Creation 1, a one-off necklace with the impressive diamond, now cut and polished, as its centerpiece, is the embodiment of the jeweler’s principles.
The 404-carat diamond has been cut and polished down to a 163.41-carats and is classified as a D color, flawless, IIA type diamond.
De Grisogono's Creation 1 will be auctioned by Christie's. Image credit: De Grisogono
In addition to the “peerless diamond,” de Grisogono’s high-jewelry Creation 1 is framed to the left by 18 emerald-cut diamonds, and at its right are two rows of pear-shaped emeralds. In total, Creation 1 boasts 1,302 diamonds, including the centerpiece, and 6,015 emeralds.
The necklace is set against a darkened golden background to create de Grisogono’s signature chiaroscuro effect.
De Grisogono unveiled Creation 1, the result of more than six months and 1,700 hours, on Sept. 28 at an event in Hong Kong at auction house Christie’s.
For Christie’s, the Creation 1 is also a milestone, as the auction house has never before sold a necklace with such a significant-sized diamond.
On de Grisogono’s Web site, consumers can follow the diamond's journey from the mine in Angola to New York and Hong Kong where the jeweler’s artisans created Creation 1.
Also, de Grisogono has developed an interactive area on its Web site where consumers can learn more about Creation 1’s use of diamonds and emeralds in its bespoke design.
De Grisogono’s From creative craftsmanship to peerless partnership
Diamond diaries
The same year de Grisogono unveiled the diamond that would become Creation 1, the Swiss jeweler became the creative guardian of a 813-carat diamond.
Known as The Constellation, the 813-carat diamond was found in November 2015 at the Karowe Mine in Botswana by Canada’s Lucara Diamond. The Constellation was bought for $63 million by a Dubai, United Arab Emirates-based trading company.
The trading company, Nemesis International, then assigned de Grisogono’s Mr. Gruosi with the task of determining the diamond’s final creation.
De Grisogono then created “The Diamond Story” a serialized film the shows the process of rough diamond to high-jewelry worn on the red carpet. De Grisogono’s series aired on its YouTube channel and Instagram account starting Jan. 5, 2017 (see story).