Samuel opened a shop on Canal Street in Manhattan's original diamond district. His son David joined in 1933, learning diamond cutting and expanding into design — in 1965 cutting a 126-carat rough into the 50-carat 'Teardrop of Africa' for Harry Winston. For decades Kwiat supplied diamonds to Tiffany & Co. and Harry Winston, before marketing directly to consumers under its own name from 2005.
The fourth generation now leads, with Greg Kwiat as CEO. The house opened its first Madison Avenue flagship in 2007, acquired antique-jewellery house Fred Leighton in 2009, and is known for proprietary designs including the Ashoka diamond and the floating-basket Kwiat Setting.