News from All Diamond

Iconic Tiffany & Co. is among the most recognizable brand names in the world and one of the most valuable retail jewelry companies. A 2015 brand survey ranked it as the 66th most valuable brand name in the world, with a brand value in excess of $6 billion. Surprisingly, however, the company did not get its start in jewelry nor was it even called Tiffany & Co. The company began operating in 1837 as Tiffany & Young, a stationary and fancy goods emporium in lower Manhattan founded by Charles Lewis Tiffany and John B. Young. It wasn't until Charles Tiffany took control of the company in 1853 that he shortened the name to Tiffany & Company, and established the firm's emphasis on diamond jewelry.

 Most people in the diamond industry immediately recognize the name Cullinan as belonging to probably the most famous rough diamond in history, and several of the most famous polished diamonds in the world today. They are likely also familiar with the Cullinan mine in South Africa, which has produced some of the most magnificent diamonds in history, including the Blue Moon which diamond industrialist Ehud Arye Laniado was fortunate to have been a part of. But few of us know much about Sir Thomas Cullinan, the namesake of both the mine and the largest gem-quality rough diamond ever found.

Mary Frances Gerety is not a name that many people are familiar with, even those in the diamond industry. She produced one of the most brilliant pieces of diamond marketing ever, and all of us working in diamonds owe our livelihoods in part to her. Gerety, who went by her middle name Frances, coined the immortal marketing slogan "a diamond is forever". When it was launched, it helped to associate diamonds with love, and solidified the role of diamonds in marriage and engagements. Today's diamond industry owes its survival largely to this successful marketing drive.

 The Tolkowsky name is legendary in the diamond business, and synonymous with expertise and precision. The firm bearing its founder's name is still active today, run by the seventh generation of this illustrious family. Over the years, various family ancestors have been responsible for major breakthroughs and innovations in the craft, and have been a part of cutting some of the most important diamonds in the world. The Tolkowsky dynasty began in the early 1800s with Abraham Tolkowsky, who was a talented diamond and precious gem cutter and dealer. He was well connected, and became a recognized diamond dealer to European nobility. He moved his family from Bialystok, Poland to Antwerp to work in what had already become the center of diamond trade in Europe at that time. Several of his nine children would work with him in the family business. His sons Samuel and Maurice would establish themselves as professional diamond cutters, and would eventually carry on the family's growing legacy.

Exactly when humans discovered that diamonds were the only material that could be used to polish other diamonds is in dispute. However, we do know that early attempts to polish diamonds were crude, and often relied on simple tools. Hand driven bow drills and leather straps dipped in diamond powder were the only tools available, and the time-consuming effort of polishing a diamond was often a task given to slaves and servants. Not surprisingly, the earliest examples of diamond jewelry mostly featured rough diamonds, perhaps with just a small amount of polishing to smooth out surface imperfections. This all changed with the invention of the scaif, credited to the legendary Lodewyk van Bercken. His invention gave cutters a practical tool to begin faceting diamonds, unlocking their hidden beauty. Today's modern polishing still uses the same concept van Bercken developed more than 500 years ago.