Harry Winston Vintage Diamond Bib Necklace

American jeweler, Harry Winston (1896-1978) built his legacy as the purveyor of the world’s most exceptional jewels. An innate gemologist with an intuitive mastery of his trade, Winston traveled the globe in his quest to find the world’s finest diamonds and gemstones for his vast portfolio of discerning clientele. He founded his first business in 1920, the Premier Diamond Company, and quickly became one of industry’s preeminent brokers of important estates and extraordinary diamonds. He owned the Hope Diamond for ten years, which he purchased in 1949 from the estate of Evalyn Walsh McLean, an American Mining heiress, then exhibited it worldwide in his Court of Jewels exhibit, and subsequently donated it to the Smithsonian Institution in 1958. He has been known throughout the industry as the “King of Diamonds,” a moniker which Cosmopolitan magazine bestowed him in 1947.

By 1932, with a sterling reputation in the upper echelon of the New York gem trade, he opened the doors of Harry Winston, Inc. in New York City, and began producing jewelry under his own name. This gorgeous Harry Winston Vintage Diamond Bib Necklace, made in 1979, is set with a staggering array of diamonds with an estimated total weight of 54.13 carats. Three different cuts are featured including 89 marquise-shaped diamonds weighing an estimated 21.68 carats, 144 round brilliant-cut diamonds weighing an estimated 16.70 carats, and 23 oval-shaped diamonds weighing an estimated 15.75 carats. The necklace is accompanied by a certificate dated October 16, 2020, from Harry Winston, Inc., verifying the necklace from their archives.

This spectacular showpiece features the iconic Winston “cluster motif” which was first brought to life in the early 1940s by Nevdon Koumrouyan (1902-1968), one of the industry's most revered artists who led Winston’s design studio at the time. The cluster motif maximizes the collective sparkle by setting various shapes and cuts of diamonds at multiple angles and within different planes. This splendid example is comprised of 23 pendants that display an enchanting floral motif of three round and two marquise diamonds culminating in a larger oval shape diamond. These pendants are alternated with single marquise diamonds oriented lengthwise dotted with single rounds. The subtle gradation of the principal motif from top to bottom is sublime, and the sparkle from each exquisite gemstone that seems to cut across and intersect creates an unbelievably dramatic effect.

Harry Winston’s love of diamonds and their inherent beauty guided the House’s creation of jewelry where the gemstone plays a primary role, functioning as both the design element and the design itself. This graceful bib necklace is a radiant example. The piece celebrates what the House would consider the endless beauty of nature’s greatest gifts–rare gemstones and flowers in bloom.

Total diamond weight approx. 54.13 carats in high-polished platinum. Overall weight is approx. 95.00 grams. Signed Harry Winston and accompanied by a certificate as well as stock number; circa 1979.

SKU :N1209
Category :NECKLACES
Metal :PLAT

Harry Winston

Platinum

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