From an early age, Harry Winston (1896-1978) had a legendary eye and passion for gems. He bought his first emerald at the age of eight and early in his career many prominent collections including those of Arabella Huntington and Rebecca Darlington Stoddard. By the age of 24 he founded his first business in New York City, known as the Premier Diamond Company. In 1932 he incorporated under his own name and shortly thereafter began to manufacture and retail jewelry. Mr. Winston was responsible for the cutting of such famous diamonds as the Jonker, Vargas, Star of Sierra Leone and what would become the legendary Taylor-Burton diamond. Proclaimed the King of Diamonds in 1947 by Cosmopolitan magazine, Harry Winston owned at one time or another as many as a third of the famous diamonds in the world. He was also responsible for donating perhaps the most famous of all diamonds, the Hope diamond to the Smithsonian Institution where it stands to today as the centerpiece of the United States’ national gem collection. Upon Mr. Winston’s death in 1978, his son Ronald assumed control of the company and in 2004 Aber Diamond Corporation acquired a controlling interest in the company taking it public in 2007 under the name Harry Winston Diamond Corporation. In 2013 the Swatch Group acquired the retail arm of Harry Winston while the mining group under separate ownership is now the Dominion Diamond Corporation. Today, Harry Winston retail salons located throughout the US, Europe and Asia uphold the company’s motto of Rare Jewels of the World.