Luxury jewellery by Harry Winston which adorned a Habsburg princess
The jeweller Harry Winston bears the name of its founder, the one and only goldsmith from the USA. This is a family tradition which was already started by Winston’s father, Jacob, after having emigrated to the United States from Ukraine.
The beginnings of the luxury goldsmith Harry Winston
Harry Winston started to do business in 1920 and opened his first shop in New York in 1932 at the age of 36.
His jewellery empire started to take shape in 1926 when he gained a collection of jewellery owned by Arabella Huntington for USD 1.2 million. The wife of the railway magnate Henry E. Huntington, Arabella, was fascinated by the most prestigious collections of jewellery of that era. Most items came from Parisian goldsmiths such as the luxury jewellery house of Cartier.
When Winston bought the collection after her death, he transformed the old-fashioned design of the jewellery into more contemporary styles in which he showed off his art of jewellery-making. According to the Huntington Museum, he allegedly boasted that the “Arabella’s famous pearl necklace now adorns the necks of at least two dozen women the world over”.
Luxury jewels for a Habsburg princess and tsar’s daughter
A famous necklace from the workshops of this goldsmith family was even worn by Anastasia Nikolaevna, daughter of Tsar Nicholas II. A diamond necklace with 47 diamonds from the same workshop was also given by Napoleon to his wife Marie Louise, a Habsburg princess, to celebrate the birth of their son in May 1811.
A luxurious modern collection
The business is now managed by Harry’s son Ronald Winston. The latest collection is among other things represented by Lotus Cluster designs, which represent luxuriously crafted lotus flowers on earrings, necklaces and rings. Sparkling diamonds, some of the rarest on the planet, make these items of jewellery things of pure luxury with a delicate floral motif.
Have a look in our gallery at some of the other luxury items of jewellery by this world-famous brand, items which are regarded as unique masterpieces.
