De Grisogono

de Grisogono is the house most associated with black diamonds, and that singular identity is its draw. Black diamonds are intrinsically harder to work than white ones, which gives the brand's mastery of the material genuine cachet. Be aware, though, that the company has a turbulent recent history, having filed for bankruptcy in 2020 before changing ownership, so buyers should treat it as a heritage name under new stewardship.

It went through a dramatic fall and revival. The company filed for bankruptcy on 29 January 2020, after years of losses and its entanglement in a major financial scandal. In 2022 it was bought by the Damac Group of Dubai, so the name lives on under new ownership.

It centred on the Angolan family of José Eduardo dos Santos. In 2012 founder Fawaz Gruosi sold his majority stake to investors connected to Isabel dos Santos, and SODIAM, the trading arm of Angola's state diamond company, invested $120 million in the brand. In January 2020 de Grisogono was named in the Luanda Leaks investigation as part of Isabel dos Santos's business empire.

Because the founder built the house around them. Fawaz Gruosi was a Lebanese-Italian black diamond specialist, and de Grisogono made its name championing black diamonds as a luxury statement when most jewellers focused on white stones. That bold, dark-stone signature is what set the brand apart from the start.

de Grisogono is a Swiss luxury jeweller founded in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1993 by Fawaz Gruosi. Its base in Geneva places it firmly within the Swiss high-jewellery and watchmaking tradition.

It traces back to gold, fittingly. The Italian name Grisogono derives from the Latin Chrysogonus, itself from the Greek Chrysogonos, meaning "begotten of gold." It's an apt name for a house dealing in precious stones and metals.

Its 2017 sales at Christie's stand out. That year a de Grisogono necklace built around a 163.41-carat D Flawless diamond, cut from a 404-carat rough and designed by Fawaz Gruosi, set a record at Christie's Magnificent Jewels sale in Geneva, fetching 33.5 million Swiss francs. The same year, its "Creation I" necklace sold for nearly Dh125 million.

Fawaz Gruosi was both founder and chief designer, and the house's identity was inseparable from him. In January 2019 he reportedly left the company's board and his role as chief designer, with Céline Assimon named CEO, shortly before the brand's 2020 bankruptcy filing.

The Damac Group of Dubai, which bought the brand in 2022 following its bankruptcy. In August 2024, SODIAM sold its remaining shares in de Grisogono as part of a move to dismantle the dos Santos family's financial empire, further distancing the revived house from its scandal-hit past.

It depends on what you value. The craftsmanship and the black-diamond heritage are real, but the brand's commercial story has been rocky, from the dos Santos scandal to bankruptcy and a change of ownership. Buy it for the design and the stones rather than for continuity, and have any significant piece independently appraised before purchase.