Graff
Lawrence Graff was born in 1938 in London to a Romanian mother and a Russian father. He left school at 15 and started his career in the jewelry working as an apprentice for Mr. Schindler in Hatton Garden. Working as an apprentice he also was studying goldsmithing at the Central School of Arts and Crafts. Three years later he set up on his own shop and worked in partnership with a more experienced jeweler doing repairs. One day he persuaded a well known diamond dealer to memo him 33 small diamonds which he mounted in a large flashy cluster style ring instead of 33 individual rings which was commonplace at the time. He sold the ring quickly to another jeweler who in turn sold it quickly as well and asked him for another one. With this he continued to bring larger pieces to his wholesale operation and began to consider retail. Graff Diamonds was founded in Hatton Garden in 1960 with the first two retail shops opening in London two years later. After the first retail shop was established the prince Turki II Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud walked into the shop and bought every single piece of jewelry including a 14 karat diamond! This helped Graff open his second location and furthered his name in the diamond business. In 1998 the company acquired a stake in the South African Diamond Corporation to ensure their own steady and reliable supply of diamonds. Today the business has more than 55 stores worldwide including Monaco, Tokyo, Singapore, Macau and Dubai. At 80 years old Lawrence Graff still runs the business with his brother, son and nephew.
