I'm new to PS and love it. I was looking for a first time e-ring and PS saved me and educated me. You all are great. I came into this lamenting how much I'd need to spend on "a piece of carbon" but now I'm a cut nerd obsessed with HCA, Sarin data, angles, IS images, AGS cut guidlines, etc. I'm ruined!
My fiance-to-be would be happy with anything I gave her but I knew that she would really prefer a luxury brand where she new she could always go for quality service. I knew that no amount of PS info would change her mind.
Armed with my PS knowledge I knew how pick out the outstanding performers from the luxury stores' stock knowing that all their stock would likely be very good to excellent to begin with.
Purely out of patriotism (I'm American), I wanted to stick with a US brand and that seemed to rule out Graff, Bulgari, Van Cleef, Cartier, Chopard, etc. It seemed my choices really were just Tiffany and Harry Winston -- until I did a little research.
Tiffany was founded in 1837 by Charles Lewis Tiffany ("the King of Diamonds") and most here know the highlights: the iconic 6-prong setting that is still a legend today, the retailing innovations, acquisition of French crown jewels as a marketing stroke of genius, the designs, the service, the quality, and so on.
Then I read up on HW history. I was expecting an equally impressive history considering how highly-regarded HW seems to be but came away thinking HW was just a blatant, shameless copy of the Tiffany history and innovations. And I was really surprised that I'd never seen this discussed here.
Harry Winston started HW in 1932 partly from his father's firm. His father Jacob was also a jeweler and had immigrated to the US from the Ukraine changing his name to "Winston." Harry chose to call himself "the King of Diamonds" (sound familiar?) and also began acquiring famous enormous diamonds and publicizing this. HW retail operations are now owned by a Canadian mining company formerly known as Aber and now called Harry Winston Diamond Corporation.
So, unless I'm wrong, HW is a fake name with a copied business model that is now not even a US company -- it's Canadian company. I realize that history and originality won't necessarily make the diamond or setting quality any better. And what I've seen and read about HW pieces surely do not make me question the quality. But I feel if you are going to "pay up" for a name there ought to be some substance and honesty that come with the name. The HW story seems like a blatant and not very good copy of the Tiffany history and business model. And they're really just a front now for a Canadian miner. Knowing all this, can anyone here tell me why anyone would prefer HW to T&Co? Am I missing something?
My fiance-to-be would be happy with anything I gave her but I knew that she would really prefer a luxury brand where she new she could always go for quality service. I knew that no amount of PS info would change her mind.
Armed with my PS knowledge I knew how pick out the outstanding performers from the luxury stores' stock knowing that all their stock would likely be very good to excellent to begin with.
Purely out of patriotism (I'm American), I wanted to stick with a US brand and that seemed to rule out Graff, Bulgari, Van Cleef, Cartier, Chopard, etc. It seemed my choices really were just Tiffany and Harry Winston -- until I did a little research.
Tiffany was founded in 1837 by Charles Lewis Tiffany ("the King of Diamonds") and most here know the highlights: the iconic 6-prong setting that is still a legend today, the retailing innovations, acquisition of French crown jewels as a marketing stroke of genius, the designs, the service, the quality, and so on.
Then I read up on HW history. I was expecting an equally impressive history considering how highly-regarded HW seems to be but came away thinking HW was just a blatant, shameless copy of the Tiffany history and innovations. And I was really surprised that I'd never seen this discussed here.
Harry Winston started HW in 1932 partly from his father's firm. His father Jacob was also a jeweler and had immigrated to the US from the Ukraine changing his name to "Winston." Harry chose to call himself "the King of Diamonds" (sound familiar?) and also began acquiring famous enormous diamonds and publicizing this. HW retail operations are now owned by a Canadian mining company formerly known as Aber and now called Harry Winston Diamond Corporation.
So, unless I'm wrong, HW is a fake name with a copied business model that is now not even a US company -- it's Canadian company. I realize that history and originality won't necessarily make the diamond or setting quality any better. And what I've seen and read about HW pieces surely do not make me question the quality. But I feel if you are going to "pay up" for a name there ought to be some substance and honesty that come with the name. The HW story seems like a blatant and not very good copy of the Tiffany history and business model. And they're really just a front now for a Canadian miner. Knowing all this, can anyone here tell me why anyone would prefer HW to T&Co? Am I missing something?