Історія, філософія, виробництво

An intense passion for diamonds has been the driving force in Laurence Graff’s life since he first sat, over 60 years ago, at a jeweller’s bench in Hatton Garden, London’s jewellery quarter. His story of metamorphosis is very similar to that of a diamond – transformed from raw, rough carbon into a precious, ravishingly refined gem. ‘I have always been fascinated by diamonds,’ he says; ‘I remember looking at them, studying them closely to understand their purity, and the way they had been cut. It was an inherent feeling that has turned in to a lifelong passion.’

‘I have always been fascinated by diamonds, I truly believe that working with diamonds is what I was born to do.’

When his mother took him, aged just 15, to his first job as an apprentice in Hatton Garden, she asked the owner, a Mr Schindler, “How far can he go?” The answer, prophetic, came back, “The sky’s the limit.” Yet, after three months of scrubbing floors, occasionally levelling a piece of metal, and learning his trade on day-release classes at the Central School of Arts and Crafts, young Graff was told he would “never make the grade”.

This proved to be more a provocation than a deterrent, he says: ‘I didn’t give up, but moved on with more determination.’ His entrepreneurial instincts and drive, inherited from his shrewd grandmother, Katie Graff – the business brain of the family, to whom everyone in their community went for advice – fuelled his ascent. ‘I come from a family of hard-working people and I was born with a will to succeed.’

Graff founded his first company at the tender age of 18, when he began working alongside a more experienced jeweller. ‘I suggested we set up in business and we formed a partnership, repairing Victorian jewellery.’ Laurence Graff’s entrepreneurial flair, opportunistic nature and courage in taking risks all contribute to his business trajectory. One such occasion occurred early on: he met a diamond dealer whom he persuaded to advance him 33 small diamonds for £60. ‘Instead of making 33 individual rings,’ Graff remembers, ‘I placed them all on one ring, creating a big flash of diamonds. I sold the ring to a jeweller in the north of England, who called me immediately after my return to London to say he had sold the ring and wanted to order another.’