Master Jewelers

Boucheron

Frédéric Boucheron opened his first jewelry salon at the Palais Royal in 1858, and soon acquired fame as an expert in precious stones. A masterful technician and a creator of beautiful jewelry, he was the first jeweler to set up shop in 1893 at the Place Vendôme, where the firm still operates successfully today. Over the years, the Maison Boucheron opened branches in Moscow and London, and also in Japan, the Middle and Far East. Boucheron exhibited in many international expositions including the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial; the 1889 and 1900 Expositions Universelle in Paris; the 1893 World's Colombian Exposition in Chicago; and the 1925 Exposition des Arts Décoratifs in Paris.

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Buccellati

Coming from a long line of jewelry craftsmen and following an apprenticeship in goldsmithing at Beltrami e Besnati in Milan, Mario Buccellati opened his first shop in 1919. In the following years, the fame of Buccellati jewels began to attract the attention of royalty all over the world. In 1925, he opened a shop in Rome followed in 1929 by another one in Florence. New York followed in 1953. In 1965, Buccellati’s three sons, all goldsmiths themselves, decided to create their own company to preserve their father’s original style. No matter what precious materials are employed, taste, beauty and personalization are the prime factors of a Buccellati jewel. Production is carried out today by 70 Italian craftsmen. The tradition is maintained by 70 Italian craftsmen led by Federico Buccellati and now by his sons Lorenzo, Rodolfo and Benedetta.

Bulgari

Sotirio Bulgari, born in 1857 in Greece, founded the firm Bulgari. In 1879, he moved to Rome where he opened his first shop in Via Sistina. Upon Sotirio's death in 1932, his sons Giorgio and Costantino took over the business. The former created the highly distinctive "Bulgari" style inspired by classical and Renaissance art featuring colors and patterns found in mosaics. Bulgari is also famous for incorporating ancient coins into jewels. The company opened boutiques in the world's major cities, including Geneva, Hong Kong, London, Milan, Monte Carlo, Munich, New York, Osaka, Paris, Saint-Moritz, Singapore, and Tokyo.

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Cartier

Founded in Paris in 1847 by Louis-François Cartier, it took his three grandsons, Louis, Pierre, and Jacques, to turn the name Cartier into the famous worldwide empire it is today. In 1972, a group of investors led by Joseph Kanoui bought Cartier Paris whose President, Robert Hocq, originated "Les Must de Cartier" in collaboration with Alain Dominique Perrin. Cartier's interests in the world were brought together in 1979 by the creation of "Cartier Monde." The merger of "Cartier" and "Les Must de Cartier" took place in 1981 when Alain Dominique Perrin was appointed President of Cartier S.A. and Cartier International. In 1982, Micheline Kanoui took over the management of the jewelry creation department. In 1983, the Cartier Museum was initiated by Eric Nussbaum. On October 23, 1993, the "Vendôme Luxury Group" was created of which Cartier became a part.

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Chaumet

Originally founded in 1780 under a different name by Marie-Etienne Nitot, the firm became the official jeweler to Napoleon. Among their achievements were the Consular sword, the tiara of Pius VII and the grand parures ordered by the Empresses Jospehine and Marie-Louise. After the fall of Napoleon, the business continued under the direction of Jean-Baptiste Fossin and his son Jules, both artists who succeeded in capturing the spirit of Romanticism in jewelry just as Nitot & Fils had done for the Empire. The year 1889 heralded the rise of Chaumet, a jeweler from Bordeaux, when he took over the company and changed its name. The firm became the jeweler to many of the royal houses of Europe and won numerous awards at international exhibitions.

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Flato

Born in 1900 in Flatonia, Texas, Paul Flato opened his own shop at 1 East Fifty-Seventh Street in New York City in the late 1920's, several years before Tiffany & Co. relocated to their current address just across the street. His design-oriented style, often bordering on the humerous, reached its peak in the 1930's. Adolph Kleaty, George Headley and Fulco di Verdura were among his designers. In 1937, Flato opened a branch on Sunset Boulevard in Beverly Hills, which was frequented by such luminaries as Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Merle Oberon and Marlene Dietrich. Flato opened a ship in Mexico City in the fashionable Zona Rosa district of Mexico City in 1970. He spent his last years in Dallas, Texas, where he passed away in July 1999.

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Graff

Founded in London in 1960, the firm has grown to one of the world’s leading jewelry makers utilizing the rarest and finest gems. Over the years, Graff has handled some of the world’s most fabulous and treasured gemstones including The Idol’s Eye, The Emperor Maximillian, The Porter Rhodes, The Begum Blue and La Favorite. The firm has also created some of the most exciting and unashamedly glamorous jewelry of the time, all of which are created in-house by highly skilled craftsmen. In 1973, 1977, and 1994, Graff was honored with the Queen’s Award to Industry & Export. The House of Graff is currently located in New Bond Street, Sloane Street and Brompton Road in London; on Madison Avenue in New York; at the Hotel de Paris in Monte Carlo; on board The World of ResidenSea; at the Wafi Centre in Dubai; and at the Tretiakovsky proezd in Moscow.

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JAR

A native New Yorker, Joel Arthur Rosenthal studied Art History at Harvard, worked briefly in the film industry after graduation, and then landed with Bulgari. He opened a shop in the Place Vendôme in Paris in 1977, making his initials, JAR, the only identification on its façade. JAR's exquisite jewels, superbly crafted in unique settings, incorporate stones in brilliant and unexpected combinations. In November 1987, in celebration of his 10th anniversary in Paris, Rosenthal held an exhibition of his work at the National Academy of Design in New York City.

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Mauboussin

A little jewelry shop in Paris, started in 1827, began its ascent to powerhouse when Georges Mauboussin joined the firm and assumed control in 1896. The House of Mauboussin participated in major international exhibitions in the first half of the 20th century including Milan in 1923 and 1924; New York in 1924 and 1939; Strasbourg in 1924; and Paris in 1925, 1931, and 1937. The firm was awarded the Grand Prix at the 1925 Exposition des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, while branches in London, Buenos Aires and New York. Economical upsets forced the firm to use its name. All jewelry retailed under this contract was signed "Trabert & Hoeffer, Inc.—Mauboussin." The firm is currently located at 20, Place Vendôme in Paris.

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Mouawad

The prestigious firm of Mouawad was founded in 1890 when David Mouawad, grandfather of the current head, Robert, opened his workshop in Lebanon. The firm's development is due mainly to the dynamic influence of Robert Mouawad and the invaluable contribution of his sons. At an historical crossroads of East and West, Lebanon had a strong and diverse impact on this creator of unique and distinctive jewels. Mouawad's choice of artists and craftsmen has enabled him to create masterpieces worthy of royalty such as the jeweled Bonsai presented by the diplomatic community to the new emperor of Japan in 1993. Today the Mouawad group extends from the Middle East to the main jewelry centers in the West and in Far East.

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Schlumberger

Jean Schlumberger was born in Mulhouse, in German-controlled Alsace, into a family of textile industrialists. Preferring art to textiles, his first jewelry creations were china flowers mounted as clips, which were gifts to his friends. They caught the attention of the couturière Elsa Schiaparelli who commissioned Schlumberger to design costume jewelry. He set up shops in New York and Paris. In 1956, Walter Hoving, the new chairman of Tiffany & Co., brought Schlumberger into the firm and granted him the privilege to stamp his creations with his own name, the first Tiffany designer to do so. His jewelry and objets d'art have been showcased in special exhibitions in New York, while the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond has shown a selection of his jewels and fantasy objects from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, the philanthropist and art collector. Tiffany & Co. continues to carry his creations.

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Sterlé

Sterlé was born into a family of financiers. After his father's death during World War I, he learned the jewelry trade from his uncle who became his guardian. In 1934, he established his own business in the rue Sainte-Anne in Paris. From 1934-39, he created jewelry for other houses such as Boucheron, Chaumet, Ostertag and Puiforcat. Although the ideas and concepts for all jewelry offered through his salon were Sterlé's, he engaged the services of draughtsmen, such as Jacques Desnoues and Yves Poussielgues, to carry out the designs. The firm remained opened until 1976 when Chaumet bought the stock and also hired Pierre Sterlé as a technical consultant.

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Tiffany & Co.

On September 21, 1837, Charles Lewis Tiffany and John P. Young opened a fancy goods store known as Tiffany & Young in New York City. Jewelry and silver items were added later. By 1953, Tiffany had assumed complete control of the business and changed the name to Tiffany & Co. During the 19th century, designers such as Edward C. Moore and G. Paulding Farnham, as well as renowned gemologist George Frederick Kunz, helped propel Tiffany & Co. to the forefront of the international jewelry world. Beginning in 1907, the firm manufactured and sold the jewelry of the founder's son, Louis Comfort. When Walter Hoving became Tiffany & Co.'s president in 1955, he began to add new talent to the firm's roster of creative designers, among them Jean Schlumberger and Donald Claflin followed by Elsa Peretti and Paloma Picasso in the 1970's. After the management-led buyout of Tiffany in 1984 (by then the firm was owned by Avon Products) headed by current chairman William R. Chaney, and a successful public offering of stock in 1987, the company expanded rapidly and comprises more than 100 worldwide locations today.

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Van Cleef & Arpels

Alfred Van Cleef and two of his brothers-in-law, Charles and Julien Arpels, opened their first salon at the Place Vendôme in Paris in 1906. Six years later, the youngest Arpels brother, Louis, also joined the family firm. The firm's immediate success prompted the partners to open salons in the important pleasure spots of France and abroad. In 1930, Louis Arpels created the first minaudière, a sleek gold box with hidden compartments to hold all the items essential for the well-dressed lady. In 1933, the firm revolutionized jewelry with the introduction of the "invisible setting" of gemstones. Responding to the more casual lifestyle of the mid-1950's, they introduced their "Boutique" department, a concept embraced by other jewelers.

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Verdura

Fulco Santostefano della Cerda, Duke of Verdura, moved from his native Palermo to Paris in 1926, where he worked for Coco Chanel, initially as a textile designer and eventually as head jewelry designer. After relocating to the United States in 1937, he became a designer for Paul Flato's jewelry establishment in New York and California. Verdura opened his own salon in 1939 at 712 Fifth Avenue and a second in Paris at rue Boissy d'Anglais in 1947. His jewelry featured gold mountings with precious and semi-precious stones, a bold undertaking at the time when platinum was the most popular metal. In 1972, Verdura sold the business to his associate, Joseph G. Alfano, and retired to London until his death in 1978. In 1985, Edward J. Landrigan purchased Verdura Inc. and established a salon at 745 Fifth Avenue, where he continues to produce fine jewels from Verdura's original drawings in a manner consistent with the Duke's tradition.

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Harry Winston

Harry Winston opened his first store in New York City, known as the Premier Diamond Company, when he was only 24 years old. Twelve years later, he opened another company under his own name and began to manufacture jewelry. Winston was responsible for the cutting of such famous diamonds as the Jonker, the Taylor-Burton, the Star of Sierra Leone, and the Vargas. He donated three important diamonds to the Smithsonian: The Hope, the Portuguese and the Oppenheimer. By the 1950's Winston was known as the "King of Diamonds" owing at one time or another nearly one-third of all the famous diamonds in the world. In 1962, the company moved to its present location at 718 Fifth Avenue. With his death in 1978, Winston's son, Ronald, continued his father's tradition of offering "Rare Jewels of the World," the firm's motto for many years. In an effort to address an ever-expanding market for Winston jewelry, the firm opened salons in Tokyo (1989) and Beverly Hills (1990). They also established a watch department under the slogan "The Ultimate Timepiece."

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