The Art of de Grisogono, Creation I, a unique High Jewellery necklace featuring a 163.41-carat D-Colour Type IIA diamond of Flawless clarity, is unveiled. Founder and Creative Director of de Grisogono, Fawaz Gruosi, has guided the process from the cutting of the 404.20-carat rough diamond to the finished High Jewellery necklace.
Not only is this perfect white diamond the largest of its kind ever to come to auction and the most valuable gem the house has ever set, it is also the first step in a game-changing move for de Grisogono on the cusp of its 25th anniversary. Now able to work with ever-more precious stones of both historic and geological significance thanks to a strategic partnership with Nemesis International, de Grisogono’s signature style of audacious glamour, rich colours, large volumes and baroque opulence, highlighted by an exquisite attention to detail, is set to rise to new levels of sublime luxury.
The diamond
On the eve of 4th February 2016, in eastern Angola, the Lulo mine revealed its greatest treasure yet: a 404.20-carat rough diamond. To pay tribute to the day the country commemorates its long journey to independence, it was named the “4 de Fevereiro” and is the 27th biggest rough white diamond ever discovered. It is also the largest to be found in Angola, assuring its place in diamond history.
Soon after its discovery, de Grisogono was able to secure the “4 de Fevereiro” thanks to its partnership with the diamond trading company Nemesis International. The “4 de Fevereiro” was unveiled at the Cannes Film Festival at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc on 17th May 2016.
Beyond its impressive size, colour and clarity, the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) in New York declared the rough stone to be a highly desirable Type IIA D-Colour with little or no nitrogen in its lattice structure. What’s more, once cut and polished, on the 15th December 2016 the GIA graded the 163.41-carat stone as a D-Colour and Flawless. To date, it seems that it is the largest D Flawless emerald-cut diamond the Institute has ever seen.
From the stone to the final diamond
For the next stage of its journey, the “4 de Fevereiro” travelled to New York, where it took 11 months to analyse, map, cleave, laser cut and polish the elegant 163.41-carat emerald-cut stone we see today.
In December 2016, the 163.41-carat diamond left New York and travelled to de Grisogono’s headquarters in Geneva. The challenge for Fawaz Gruosi and his team was to maintain the spirit of de Grisogono in a jewel worthy of this magnificent stone while not forgetting that it must be a wearable piece of jewellery of the utmost comfort.
After two months, 50 different design options were reduced to just one: an asymmetric necklace with the 163.41-carat diamond as the centrepiece, enhanced with emerald-cut diamonds and emeralds.
Piece creation
Over six months, a team of 14 master craftsmen and women, including eight jewellers, five setters and one engraver, lavished 1,700 hours on the creation, making each piece of the necklace by hand in de Grisogono’s high jewellery atelier. Working from a highly detailed life-size wax model, they meticulously refined every detail while the Gemmology department assembled the thousands of emeralds and diamonds, each cut individually to ensure the harmony of the design.
Let's discover the creation process in the documentary "The Art of de Grisogono - Birth of a legend".
Sale by auction
A worldwide tour starting in late September will culminate in Geneva. The Art of de Grisogono will tour the world for viewings starting in Hong Kong (28th September-1st October), London (4th-7th October), Dubai (17th-19th October), New York (4th-5th November) and Geneva (9th-14th November). The necklace will be sold by auction at Christie's at 7pm GMT on Tuesday, 14th November 2017 at the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues, Quai des Bergues 33, Geneva, Switzerland.
