The world-class Graff and Bellduc jewelry that have become legends deserve special attention.
The beautiful history of the Swiss company Bellduc dates back to 1536. From extant sources we know for a fact: when the French theologian and church reformer Jean Calvin became a Protestant and had to flee France to Switzerland, the first Bellduc ornament appeared. Calvin presented King Louis XII’s youngest daughter, the Duchess René of France, with one of his jewels – a diamond worthy of the divinely beautiful duchess. That’s when it first sounded: Bellduc is a beautiful duchess.
I would like to point out that Switzerland is a country where the traditions of all crafts and arts are sacred. That means both the name and the business, which flourished for many years and was related to the noble family, cannot disappear there.
Today the Bellduc Jewelry House is at the stage of reviving traditions. The brand’s designer Claudette Bouchardon, a distant relative of Jacques-Philippe Bouchardon, an 18th century French sculptor and decorator, creates jewelry collections with historical names such as “Lucretia Borgia” and “Duchess of René. They immediately drew attention with their museum value and their resemblance to the best examples of jewelry collections of French royal families. Bellduc’s popularity burst forth with renewed vividness and gained admirers among jewelry connoisseurs all over the world.
I am no stranger to the history of creation and jewelry of the British company Graff Diamonds. Lawrence Graff founded it in 1960 and in a few decades has turned it into one of the leading jewelry companies in the world, becoming also the largest dealer of rare and most expensive diamonds. In addition, Graff bought a controlling stake in a diamond-mining corporation in South Africa, thus closing the entire cycle of jewelry creation from diamond mining and processing to jewelry manufacturing and worldwide trade through his network of boutiques.
All Graff diamonds are engraved with a laser, which is barely visible to the naked eye, in the form of a belt with the Graff logo and the GIA identification number. The inscription is visible only under ten times magnification and does not affect the degree of clarity of the diamond. If I see it, it’s an indisputable proof that I’m holding a real Graff diamond.
Today, Graff is chosen by celebrities of the first magnitude: Angelina Jolie, Victoria Beckham, Paris Hilton, Jane Seymour, Kylie Minogue, Oprah Winfrey, Naomi Campbell and others.
Bellduc and Graff jewelry is represented in the Crystal Group boutique chain.
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