King Of Diamonds

people asked me what is the difference between your business in the early days and now and I say the notes on the end because that's the only difference is exactly the same thing London's Mayfair the home of money and style also the appropriate setting for the International diamond dealer Lawrence Graff as he reveals his latest collection of diamonds to the press I made a truly exciting business diamonds are one of the greatest treasures known to man Graff knows the world of gems better than most but one exceptional diamond presented him with probably one of his greatest challenges I knew it was gonna cost a lot of money I didn't really know what would I get out of it in November 2006 Graff decided to buy one of the world's largest uncut diamonds the price was twelve million dollars and a chance to turn it into one of the rarest collections in the world assuming of course all went well no one can be really sure what's going to come out of the rough diamond Laurens Graf is one of the top names in the world of select jewelry a half a century has made exclusive pieces for the wealthy for kings and queens and heads of state according to the latest Rich List he's worth an estimated 1.3 billion pounds but however successful he's being has always tried to keep the customers happy and thinks nothing of flying halfway across the world in his private jet to show some on his latest collection for Graff diamonds are a way of life a consuming passion you always know where you are he says with a diamond in this program we see how the king of diamonds found the ultimate gem for centuries diamonds have been a unique status symbol the hardest substance in the universe diamonds make every woman elegant and glamorous whether it's a high street engagement ring or the sumptuous British crown jewels diamonds have that undeniable earlier Emelia which Lawrence Graff has made his mission in life as he travels the world buying and selling exclusive jams it's been said that more of the world's top diamonds have passed through graphs hands than that of any other dealer with cut stones and they've become history because they've been the largest of their time even the largest emerald cut diamond in the world or the largest over time in the world the largest heart-shaped diamond the world the largest brilliant diamond in the world was made them all Lawrence became famous from his you know a few high net-worth individuals sultan of brunei and others visa has had a great ability to market these special stones to some of the wealthiest individuals in the world since diamonds were first discovered they were always held in the highest esteem but really the appeal of diamonds isn't from now it's from centuries old the natural beauty of the diamonds and the fact that they're found in nature and created over billions of years that adds to their your especially in the modern day dymas always come to the floor at any glamorous occasion you'll see all the actresses and have been adorned with pieces of diamond jewelry and they've always made someone feel special women love wearing diamonds and they always have loved wearing diamonds how much can one express once love you could for a gift what gift you give or you give her gift that you're gonna fall which is a one carat or hundred carats the expression to say and they made me feel fantastic it's just America's special feeling and agenda the bigger the better they're a symbol of love I mean mine for my husband represents everything to me I don't know what it does to other people but to me they don't even have to be the most expensive diamonds you know they're special Hollywood has always had a love of diamonds stars such as Elizabeth Taylor are renowned for their passion for jewelry a passion that the late actor Richard Burton addressed when you gave her gems worth millions of dollars it accentuated their love and it was noticed by the public and the power that Richard must have felt when he gave her a sixty carat diamond she put on the most beautiful woman in the world she was not only his but he endorsed it by giving her another wonderful creation that she could have closer but squink art or patient these rocks don't lose their shape Emma's are a girl's best friend they are a girl's best friend because when a man especially in the modern world gives a gift of diamonds were laid it becomes hers it really is hers diamonds for men is now becoming a very powerful force and in the new markets driven by celebrities David Beckham is with diamond studs and many other people diamonds for men is certainly is one of the new trends it's like an adrenaline rush to open maybe a blue Tiffany box and kalau oh no a being that has ginormous baccala know any great collector whether it's a collector of art or a collector of stones buys them because he truly loves them an immense amis collection and I think history is proof if you buy the best of anything it's going to be a good investment and incidentally to buy the best it's always the highest price ruff started his career in the traditional home of diamonds here's a street which if it isn't actually paved with gold is still the richest Highway in the world hadn't gone home of precious stones I started in a very humble way I started sitting at the bench learning to be a jeweler using my hands making jewelry and I had a lot of confidence I always felt that I was born to be amongst these stones I was born to be in the diamond business I just felt it's so natural first imanari I sold is 100 pounds and when I sold that ring for 100 pounds it was a huge jump from selling the semi-precious stones for 5 pounds so I soon learned the why sell and buy for 5 or 6 pounds when I can buy and sell for 100 pounds and it wasn't long before I made a second one for 200 pounds then 500 pounds than a thousand pounds first time I came across rather than met mr. Lawrence graph was when we were bidding on the same building in the early sixties the diamond fraternity is a very very sort of small world and was even smaller some time back when everybody knew everybody and before computers and before the jet airplanes when the word of the person was his bond the diamond industry has always been based on one's word and it's one of the traditions across cultures that when a deal is done between diamonds one ends it with a handshake and there are no there have been no written contracts in in the diamond industry that like everything it's changing to some extent but the fundamentals in most of the trading of the polished diamonds is still done on a handshake and it's ended with word Mazar craft and ambitious and determine sales saw the potential of an untapped international market one rainy day I stopped offered an agency and I said I'd like a ticket and the agency's where would you like a ticket to Isis just anywhere with a sun shining he says well this time of year why not Australian raph was on his way to australia with samples in his bag but on route he stopped at the bustling trading city of Singapore something that would have an effect on his future I stopped off in Singapore I looked around and I had my little box of samples I saw a store called Robinsons departments law for the miniature Harris I wandered in and standing behind an empty counter was a gentleman that knew me from the north of England I said what are you doing here is about what are you doing here as well I'm on my travels around the world of my sample case he said what we could need you we could do some good jewelry here went back to London what that crazy to get some jewelry together went back to Singapore that was my first public showing in the Far East which was successful from then onwards I went back every two months so from the 100 200 500 thousand pound in England I jumped a 10 and 20 thousand pound which was a sizable sum of money and I was a mother too he was a young man from London jeweler and I did have some lovely things not many of them but they were lovely I created in the most beautiful way using quality right from the beginning in fact I travel the world I went to Africa and that's when I started meeting meeting the diamond business I was there actually the sell jewelry and I made a mental note that that's where the diamonds come from I've got to get involved I did get involved in Africa and I was fortunate enough to buy into a diamond cutting factory which was a very small business which I've I've helped with the expertise that we have in that business to make that business into the largest diamond company in South Africa today raph always had a special feeling for Africa and was to find some of his finest diamonds here let's sang is the world's highest operating mine perched 10,000 feet up in the mountains of the landlocked kingdom the suitor some of the biggest rough diamonds have been discovered in the two and a half million tons of rock excavated each year diamonds are unlike almost any other stones in that they don't form at the Earth's surface but much deeper underground from carbon under intense heat and pressure in the layer of volcanic magma called the mantle the diamonds that reach the surface arrive by chance a massive underground explosion a bit like an underground volcano pushes the precious stones up to the surface for half a century millions of tons of rock have been carved out of the mine somewhere in the collections of rocks which are broken down and sorted could be that extra-special June but it doesn't happen often over five decades only three diamonds over five hundred carats have been found in the sorting house the rocks are graded into smaller and smaller sizes x-rays are used but the key to finding precious stones also depends on a sorting process done by hand where the human eye can spot a glint a gleam that means a diamond in October 2006 a female worker spotted one day what was to be the 15th largest uncut diamond in the world the kind of gem that Lawrence Graff would find irresistible it was to become the lesotho promise it may be that that mine never delivers another big stone that might have been it maybe it's if the next 50 years you don't know quite frankly until we are really working on it we really cut the graph realized it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity but also a major challenge I knew it was gonna cost a lot of money I didn't really know what we're gonna get out of it there's a little bit of a gamble we don't know and so way into the operation only once we own it can we open up the window no one can be really sure what's going to come out of a tough time we work along as we go along if it's on you bought the diamonds for 12 million dollars without knowing what the end result might be from a rough diamond you can never really be sure if it's going to have imperfection you may have a good idea on the yield but whether it's flawless where it's VVS very very slightly imperfect it's a differential in price of 40% who play around with a very important stone Rudy with her heart in her hair because Southern will go wrong anytime Graf had his diamonds but he also knew that months of challenging intricate work and risk lay ahead before the lesotho promise can be cut up to become an exclusive collection you on the face of it successful diamond dealer Lawrence Graff might possess most things a man might ever want from his personal fortune to his private plane but what he wanted more than anything else he bought one of the world's rarest gems called the Lesotho promise back in November 2006 was to turn it into a beautiful collection of unique diamonds it was something that would take a year a gamble that always had the risk that something might go wrong even with a dedicated team of diamonds none taking it through its intricate process work began on the gem with a small section initially polished and the interior opened up for inspection procedure known as cutting a window whether it's flawless where it's VBS very very slightly imperfect is a differential in price of 40% scanning devices were used to get a three-dimensional model of the interior of the 12 million dollar gem cracks and flaws were duly photographed and placed on the 3d model to find an optimum way to cut the stone a flaw in the edge of the stone which is invisible to the naked eye might cause a crack drastically reducing its value because the rough stone is very valuable and if we make a mistake with the yield we're going to lose substantially on the stone for four long months the diamond experts analyzed the stone before even attempting to cut it into smaller stones it's treacherous polish it can be brittle there's grain and a stone but I've got the right way and besides going the right way you've got to get the shape and besides the shape we've got to work to industry standards you just can't polish in any way so this is a plastic mold of the original piece of rough what it doesn't portray and we couldn't do that in the mold was the huge black interior the fossil that was inside this diamond and how complicated it was to work around this fossil as the gem was prepared for cutting and polishing Graff continued with his international role of bringing some of the world's finest gems to the people who can afford them and one of the new emerging areas he tapped into is the burgeoning business in Russia we said about brand lucky enough today were number one in this country price of diamonds have increased tremendously but it doesn't even say the right increase further a world the reason being is more expendable Wolf's out there today than I've ever known and its lateral it's happening everywhere we are right at top of the luxury industry rush is one of the best markets for luxury product to this moment and we found that the Russian people do want quality when it comes to jewelry I have to say they've been basically elegant life in the beginning they like simplicity and the very finest stones if you go back in history you'll see what Wharf there was in this culture palace is full of gold marbles malachite jewels and it was quite remarkable the wealth in Russia the wages is fueled by the rising energy prices and the oil and gas which has given immense wealth to quite a significant portion of society wages in Russia increasing over 20% I think last few years and so this new wealth that many Russians are felt has driven the demand for diamonds and in Russia and the demand for these new brands as time goes by the Russian women are getting smarter and smarter when it comes to jewelry I have to say they've been basically elegant right from beginning they like simplicity and the very finest stones we've come a long way always on the back of those beautiful glittering stones those precious rare stones that we've helped through nature to not oniy acquire but to develop after acquiring and selling in the Mint's the most beautiful gems in the world when it comes to handling diamonds Graff knows that patience and skill always produce the best results we have to get it right immediately that's why we plan so long and that's why we hold our heart in our hands before making the first approach you know how how diamonds are it's the hardest substance in the world to actually cut a diamond a rough diamond you can only cut it with another diamond there's no other way of cutting a diamond so when we saw we coat diamond dust on the sore andesaurus theorem can take weeks it's a very slow precise process the large diamond was cut into several smaller unique pieces to form a collection but for each of the craftsmen it's been a long and nerve-racking process to cut and polish a gem of this magnitude into its smaller parts takes several months of hard work and dedication but at the end of the day a cut and polished collection will be there to be worn and enjoyed by those with money to spend the only technology here is the computer after computer we go back to the bench and we'll use the same sort of tools as we've been using for generations the cut diamonds are measured according to the foresees the the value of the diamond the cut carat weights the color and the clarity it's the combination of the four the measure the rarity of the diamonds cutting up a diamond of this size is a three dimensional strategy the experts many of whom have been with graph for years use expressions like cleaving and sawing there is nothing brutal in their approach as they carefully and meticulously dissect the stone into a range of beautiful pieces people often talk about the fire of a dye amount where the facets catch the light and bring a special glow to a gel it's here that the diamond craftsman create that fire cutting and polishing until they are satisfied the general pass master by Graff who is a perfectionist when it comes to precious stones it's quite a meticulous job you over polish and you overdo things just for the certificate you might polish today's a little blemish which no one would ever see and which is often very difficult to see even under a magnifying glass but it's there scientifically it's got to come out to get the flawless certificate and we have to do all little adjustments finally after six months of cutting and polishing lawrence graf has achieved his aim out of africa came a rough diamond now a sumptuous collection of 26 d flawless gems has been born in a sense they are grafts children cut and polished by his family some of the most fabulous jewels in the world to be enjoyed for years to come when you finally get the collection together and you see this array of diamonds you see the beauty in the life for the shapes it's so exciting this is the largest third in the collection 70 plus carats getting on for 80 cars absolute perfection perfect shape wonderful life but I know this is going to make somebody really happy when it's on a magnificent diamond chain creation hanging from it it's gonna make somebody very very happy and it's gonna make a man look Phil and be very powerful but here quite this done and he's lady has it around her neck heart-shape approaching 50 counts absolutely flawless and perfection your p3 a brilliant cut full of life baller flyer perfectly shaped the emerald cut perfectly faceted beautiful proportions we hit the jackpot on the sofa promise every stone is perfect so naturally it's very profitable but it could have gone the other way too the value is probably several times its original cost but no one likes to talk about something like price when such beauty is there to simply the whole it's taken a year hundreds of man-hours and at the end of the day Lorenz graph has achieved what he set out to do and also knows he may never find a gem like that again you

Channel: TheLuxuryChannel

Views: 323,660

Rating: 4.8123736 out of 5

Keywords: Diamond (Industry), Diamonds, Laurence Graff, King

Id: 6GzB3HFsFNw

Length: 25min 13sec (1513 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 22 2013