A Man Who Believed In Jewelry Investment - Harry Winston Success Story

Harry Winston’s parents came to the United States from the Ukraine in 1890. Winston was born March 1, 1896, and learned the jewelry business at an early age from his father, Jacob.

By the age of 12, because of the knowledge learned from his father, he recognized a precious two carat emerald ring in a junk jewelry tray of a local pawn shop. Purchasing the ring for a quarter, two days later Winston sold it for $800.

After high school Harry Winston went to work for his father full time. In time he purchased some company stock from his father, later selling it to start generating capital. At the age of 19, Harry used $2000 of his savings to open his own company, where he bought and sold diamonds on the New York Diamond Exchange. In two years he increased capital from $2000 to $30,000, which was the beginning of him becoming a famous multi-millionaire. It wasn’t all roses for Harry. Once, an employees ran off with all of his cash and stock, leaving him nearly bankrupt. He refinanced through a bank and continued on his journey.

Right thinking breads prosperity. Harry Winston changed his strategy and began to buy estate sales jewelry. With the knowledge learned from his father, he reset the precious stones in updated settings and sold them for large profits

In 1925, Winston had accumulated enough cash to buy an estate sale jewelry package for one million dollars. By 1926, he had enough cash to purchase an estate sale for two million dollars. His profits were huge, and Harry Winston was well on his way to becoming a multi-millionaire, even though not yet well known. That all changed in 1930 when Winston purchased a 39 carat diamond. His purchase made the newspapers across the nation.

Changing direction again, in 1932, Winston stopped trading diamonds and devoted his time to creating beautiful jewelry masterpieces. His name spread among the rich and famous, as they used him for their exclusive jewelry collections. It was his continued purchases of famous diamonds that keep his name in the newspapers, spreading his fame even more.

In 1935, Winston purchased the huge 726 carat Jonker diamond for $700,000 dollars. He had it cut into 12 smaller diamonds, and the combined sales of them was $2,000.000 dollars. Through out the years Harry Winston continued to purchase large diamonds for re-cutting.

In 1972, he purchased a 970 carat Sierra Leone diamond, which was the third largest ever found. It was cut into seventeen stones, one of which was 143 carats, which was also re-cut into six separate diamonds. Again, the profit from these re-cuttings was huge.

Harry Winston was much more than a business man. He collected beautiful stones and put them on public display for others to enjoy. The prize stone in his collection was the famous Hope Diamond, purchased in 1939. Winston was the last individual owner of the famous gem. It's estimated cost was one million dollars.

Harry Winston was a generous man, wanting others to share in the beauty of precious stones, and in 1958 donated the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian Institute. In 1963 and 1964 respectively, Winston also donated the Portuguese Diamond and Oppenheirmer. Although famous, Winston was a private man, managing to keep his photograph out of the newspapers from 1960 until his death in 1978. He was 82 years old. Learn About Durable Riches

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