Harry Winston

Nobody walks into Harry Winston to browse. The conversation almost always starts with a stone, an anniversary or an inheritance, and the design comes afterwards, which is the reverse of how most jewellery is bought.

That order of business goes back to the founder. Winston opened his own house in New York in 1932 and built it on important diamonds, handling the Hope Diamond among many others before giving it to the Smithsonian. He was called the King of Diamonds in his lifetime, and the house style still lets the stone lead and keeps the metal out of its way.

Buying diamond jewellery New Bond Street clients rarely see in the window

High jewellery, bridal and the watch collections are all held here, but significant stones are shown by appointment and are usually nowhere near the floor. That is normal at this level and says nothing about what the house can find for a specific brief.

How a first appointment runs

Expect questions rather than a tray. Budget, occasion, whether a stone already exists in the family, whether the piece is meant to be worn weekly or twice a decade. A drawing tends to follow the meeting rather than precede it.