Henri Barguirdjian President and CEO of GRAFF. GRAFF is the largest fine jeweler in the world and is renowned for “The Most Fabulous Jewels in the World.” The House of GRAFF is known for its unparalleled selection of colored diamonds, particularly yellow or canary. “Our expertise in diamonds and gem stones, especially colored diamonds such as fancy yellows is GRAFF’s signature. GRAFF is the largest diamond sight holder and we are the only Diamond and Gem House that is completely vertically integrated” said Henri Barguirdjian. In this interview Henri discusses the significant move higher in the price of diamonds, what the wealthy are doing with their money and what they are saying about the move to hard assets globally because of currency fears, the portability of wealth when it comes to diamonds, the vertical integration of GRAFF, the rarity of certain diamonds, that GRAFF was the first public diamond company in London and much more.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Henri Barguirdjian
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Biography from graffdiamonds.com
Henri Barguirdjian - GRAFF President and Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Barguirdjian was appointed President and CEO of GRAFF in 2000. In April of 2001 Henri Barguirdjian opened GRAFF’s first U.S. flagship store on Madison Avenue. Since then Mr. Barguirdjian has expanded the U.S. operation to include five GRAFF boutiques at the rate of virtually one new store per year. The U.S. business also comprises points of sale in nine Saks Fifth Avenue doors including four in-store boutiques. At present, in North America, GRAFF boutiques are located in Bal Harbour, Chicago, Las Vegas at the Wynn Hotel, New York and Palm Beach.
Mr. Barguirdjian’s extensive background in the luxury jewelry business includes his tenure as President and CEO of Van Cleef & Arpels North America (1993 – 2000). Prior to joining VC&A, Henri was General Manager of Chaumet in Paris (1991 - 1993) and President of the Retail Division of Harry Winston in New York (1986 - 1991). As a fourth generation member of the prominent Barguirdjian jewelry family, there is great pride in continuing this tradition at the helm of the most important diamond company in the world.
GRAFF – The Company
GRAFF, the internationally renowned British Jeweler is famous for “The Most Fabulous Jewels in the World”. The House of GRAFF is known for its unparalleled selection of colored diamonds, particularly yellow or canary. “Our expertise in diamonds and gem stones, especially colored diamonds such as fancy yellows is GRAFF’s signature. GRAFF is the largest diamond sight holder and we are the only Diamond and Gem House that is completely vertically integrated” said Henri Barguirdjian, President and CEO.
GRAFF, a vertically integrated diamond company – controls the process from the mine through the finished jewelry. GRAFF produces polished diamonds from the rough sourced from mines around the world. GRAFF is the largest diamond producer in South Africa with one of the largest polishing and cutting factories. Tens of thousands of carats of rough diamonds are cut and polished by a team of over 300 in GRAFF’s diamond cutting facility based in Johannesburg, South Africa and Graff’s factories in Antwerp, Mauritius and New York.
With US and overseas expansion GRAFF is now a top global diamond jewelry brand. At present there are 26 (18 + Saks) GRAFF stores worldwide with corporate offices in London, New York and Geneva. New flagship stores opened in Tokyo and Hong Kong in 2007 and 2008 saw the opening of a new flagship store in New York. The New York Flagship store was designed by famed architect Peter Marino and at 5,600 square feet and 4 stories; it is seven times the size of the former location at 721 Madison Avenue.
