The fantastic story of Laurence Graff is moving now in a big book. The published the same Graff. The book tells the story of the founder of one of the great Maison specializing in diamonds. Laurence Graff is a completely self-taught gemologist who started as apprentice in Hatton Garden, the street of jewelers and diamond dealers in London. At the age of 22, in 1960, Graff opened his company. Apparently he had a kind of sixth sense to recognize the gems, as well as a strict professional training. In addition to this, he had nerves of steel: a quality that has served to buy most importantly stones, worth millions of pounds.
In the book there are the images of the history, sometimes adventurous, of the London jeweler. Adventures, of course, have to do with diamonds. As with the great stone from 603 carat Lesotho Promise, which Graff cut to transform it into a nacklace with 26 perfect stones. Or the purchase of Delaire Sunrise, the largest Fancy Vivid Yellow stone in the world, to 118.08 carats. Or, again, the largest diamond color D Flawless, brilliant cut, the Graff Constellation, from 102.79 carats.
There are also pictures of the amazing initiatives, such as Hair & Jewel, with a model wearing a half billion dollars in precious gems in their hair (http://gioiellis.com/unidea-brillante-in-testa), an idea revived in 2013 to commemorate the 60 years of activity. If you are interested, the book costs 65 pounds. The proceeds will go to charity. Federico Graglia
