The Diamond Hub in London

The city’s appeal as a luxury shopping destination extends to a fabulous array of rare and exquisite diamonds


  • Necklace L’Hiver in white gold with pear shaped diamonds, Adler.

    Necklace L’Hiver in white gold with pear shaped diamonds, Adler.

  • earrings with rows of marquise, princess, pear and round diamonds

    earrings with rows of marquise, princess, pear and round diamonds

  • Necklace in platinum and white gold set with pear shaped diamonds.

    Necklace in platinum and white gold set with pear shaped diamonds.

For connoisseur-collectors of exquisite diamond jewelry, London offers unparalleled choice. From the Bond Street jewelry quarter to the luxury emporiums of the West End, such as Harrods and Harvey Nichols, as well as the summer auction sales and Masterpiece Fair, London is an unrivalled source of extraordinarily rare diamond jewelry for the ultra-wealthy. A reporter who visited Harry Winston on New Bond Street, recently glimpsed a ‘one-off’ sapphire and white diamond pendant for 7.5 million pounds (8.6 million euros). In Bond Street, where rents are the highest in the UK, jewelry suites can sell for several million euros each at jewelers such as Graff, Moussaieff, De Beers and Chatila. Here, the buyers are sophisticated connoisseur-collectors, who visit London from around the world.

«While London remains a vibrant shopping destination, it will continue to be a leading hub for fine jewelry buyers,» said Keith Penton, Head of Christie’s London jewelry department. He was speaking after Christie’s staged its Important Jewels auction in London on last June, at which an Art Déco diamond and coral jabot pin by Cartier sold to a telephone bidder for a hammer price of 175,000 pounds (200,000 euros), seven times its pre-sale estimate. «It was fresh to the market, extremely well designed, beautiful and rare,» Penton said. Kristian Spofforth, Head of Sotheby’s sale department in London, said: «The finest things in the jewelry trade, including rare diamonds, are often found on display in the retail outlets, exhibitions and jewelry auctions in London and we had two particularly rare and fine Cartier pieces on the front and back of our June auction catalogue which achieved over 400,000 pounds (456,000 euros) between them.»

  • Cleopatra bracelet in white gold with rose cut diamonds.

    Cleopatra bracelet in white gold with rose cut diamonds.

  • Necklace L’Hiver in white gold with pear shaped diamonds, Adler.

    Necklace L’Hiver in white gold with pear shaped diamonds, Adler.

Super-wealthy visitors from the oil-rich Gulf Middle East mainly come to London during the summer, when temperatures soar in their homelands. They may own a house in London or stay for months in a hotel suite equipped like a smart home with Arabic TV channels. 

Mayfair is popular because of its central location, elegant restaurants and nightclubs, and shopping on Oxford Street and Bond Street. These days ultra-rich jewelry buyers come increasingly from Asia, to visit Bond Street and Masterpiece London, which runs between June and July and has over one billion euros of luxury goods, including diamond jewelry, under its roof. Bond Street jewelers such as Chatila, and Symbolic & Chase, and vintage jewelers like Hancocks, exhibit at Masterpiece, a recent addition to the social season when glitterati visit England to join royalty-studded events such as Royal Ascot, Wimbledon and the Henley Royal Regatta. The appeal of fine diamonds in London has spawned intermediaries connecting customers and jewelers.

«Brands use private agents and personal shoppers, and put on cocktails in luxury hotels, to meet customers,» said Dakshesh Sangani, director of diamond jeweler Rarever during Couture London, a designer showcase event held on Old Bond Street last June.

Photos by Turi Løvik Kirknes
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