Laurence Graff Biography
Laurence Graff OBE is a billionaire businessman and English jeweler best known as the founder of Graff Diamonds, a supplier of jewelry and jewels.
How old is Laurence Graff? – Age
He is 84 years old as of 13 June 2021. He was born in 1938 in Stepney, London, United Kingdom.
Laurence Graff Parents – Family
Graff was raised in a Jewish household as the son of a Romanian mother, Rebecca Segal, and a Russian father, Harry Graff. Raymond, his brother, was born in 1947
Laurence Graff Wife
Graff married Anne-Marie, a Frenchwoman, in 1962. They divorced later, and his ex-wife is now known as Anne-Marie Graff Ali. They had three children (François Xavier, Kristelle, and Stephane), two sons and a daughter. His son, Francois Xavier Graff, is in charge of the family business. Graff was reportedly having an affair with 37-year-old jeweler Josephine Daniel, who gave birth to his daughter in July 2009 and later a second child. Graff lives in Gstaad, Switzerland, with his five children.
How much is Laurence Graff worth? – Net Worth
Graff and his son Francois had a combined personal net worth of £3.785 billion, according to the Sunday Times Rich List 2020.
Laurence Graff Company – Who founded Graff?
Graff paid £16.4 million for the Wittelsbach Diamond in 2008, a significant premium over the £9 million guide price. Graff revealed almost two years later that he had three diamond cutters repolish the stone to remove the chips and improve the clarity, reducing the diamond from 35.52 carats (7.104 g) to 31 carats (6.2 g). Critics have compared this action to making the Mona Lisa more beautiful. “At a cost of only 4.45 carats, the recut and renamed Wittelsbach-Graff Diamond has been raised from a GIA grade of Fancy Deep Grayish Blue to a Fancy Deep Blue,” says gemologist Richard W. Wise. Its clarity grade has also been raised from VS2 to Internally Flawless (IF). This is a significant improvement.” In addition, the “Graff recut retained the original double stellate brilliant facet pattern, thus retaining the overall appearance of the original stone.”
How did Laurence Graff make his money? – Career
Graff dropped out of school at the age of 15 to work as an apprentice. He quickly formed a partnership with Schindler, a jeweller, and began repairing rings and creating small pieces of jewelry in a small shop. Graff began selling his jewelry designs independently to jewellers all over England after that shop went out of business. By 1962, he had two jewelry stores, one of which was in Hatton Garden.
Graff Diamonds was founded by him in 1960. In 1966, he commissioned English jeweler Robert Thomas to create a diamond jewel for the De Beers Diamond International Awards competition. The ribbon bracelet that was designed won the competition. By 1974, he had begun to specialize in selling to newly wealthy Middle Eastern buyers. He supplied many jewels, in particular, to Hassanal Bolkiah, the 29th Sultan of Brunei, who became a lifelong client and friend. Prince Turki II bin Abdulaziz Al Saud walked into the shop one day and purchased everything, including a 14-carat diamond. Graff’s company has grown to over 35 locations in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and the United States.
Graff was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2013 Birthday Honours for her contributions to the jewelry industry.