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Creative design is about constantly reinventing oneself while remaining true to one’s identity. Preciously safeguarding the attributes of a distinctive and authentic character. Creating the unexpected, springing surprises. Introducing visual novelty while instilling a deep sense of continuity and consistency.
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FAWAZ GRUOSI FOUNDER AND CREATIVE DIRECTOR
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MOST TALKED ABOUT
Why do you think de GRISOGONO took off? Esquire Big Watch Book (UK) - October 2016 When I started my company, the jewellery business was very minimalist, lots of platinum and white gold. Brands used traditional stones with no real creativity, all doing more or less the same thing. I did just the opposite. It was a risk but it was the only way to get noticed.
You often follow your intuition when you design, don’t you? Can you tell us more about your creative process? Hurun Report (Hong Kong) – October 2016 I never work at my desk when I am creating and working on sketches of ideas, because outside my studio there is a beautiful ocean. Beneath the sun, the ocean is colourful and sparking. Watching the waves is a source of endless creative inspiration. In short, rather than saying I am in the design process, it is better to say that I try to “catch” inspiration. I try to express what I see and feel through my sketches.
What makes a piece of jewellery timeless? Gheir.com (Saudi Arabia) – May 2016 First and foremost it needs to be well crafted. That’s why at de GRISOGONO we have the finest artisans with the highest level of expertise work in-house in a constant quest for excellence. We believe in uncompromising dedication to perfection, with no expenses spared. It is a true “haute-couture” approach to jewellery and watchmaking. I believe that a well-crafted piece of jewellery is a treasured possession to be passed down from mother to daughter, from generation to generation. There should also always be a classic and a contemporary touch in terms of the design. Creating the perfect balance between these two elements helps make a piece of jewellery eternal.
MOST TALK ABOUT SIX QUESTIONS FOR FAWAZ GRUOSI
To what do you owe the brand’s success today? L’Officiel (India) - July 2015
How do you manage to attract so many beautiful women and celebrities? Do they come for the shine of your diamonds? Kommersant Style (Russia) – October 2016 My clients know that I do not change. Even in five or ten years if I’m lucky, I will see them with the same pleasure. I am not a financial person, but an artist. Our now-famous parties started many years ago, when I came to Cannes to show my creations. There were times I was begging people to see me, but now they come to have fun with me, because I love them.
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Dedication, innovation, a constant striving for perfection, and a passion for the art of jewellery and watchmaking – that is the secret behind de GRISOGONO’s success. My personality also had some role to play in the making of the brand. I have a restless spirit – my job is also my hobby and I am always working. My ultimate goal has been to serve my clients by meeting the highest standards, and I expect the same level of drive and dedication from the people working with me. I have trusted my intuition and I refuse to be swayed. It is something that has taken the brand to where it is now.
Can you tell us about finding The Constellation, which is over six centimetres wide, was discovered by Canadian company Lucara Diamond in Botswana in November 2015, and sold to Nemesis International DMCC and de GRISOGONO ? Whitewall (US) – December 2016 We have a strong connection with Nemesis, allowing de GRISOGONO to market their best stones. In the last few months, we acquired two historical rough diamonds, following a competitive bidding process. One was a 404- carat stone, named the 4 de Fevereiro, and once that’s cut, it will probably come out between 150 and 160 carats. Just a month later, The Constellation was found – 813 carats, which is expected to reveal one of the world’s largest certified flawless diamonds. This is the sort of diamond that people will be talking about for generations to come. They’re studying the stone scientifically to maximize its full potential and spirit. It was under the ground for so many centuries. It’s just unbelievable.
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A WILD AND AUDACIOUS PASSION FOR CREATING
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Millions of precious stones, thousands of carats, hundreds of creations, dozens of collections, Fawaz Gruosi’s creative force appears literally inexhaustible. Since the time of its creation in 1993, de GRISOGONO immediately brought an iconic and daring style to the world of jewellery. Twenty-four years after propelling the black diamond to the forefront of the international jewellery scene, the Geneva-based creative spirit has driven a constant stream of surprises. Fascinated by precious stones, he rewrites the design codes of the jewellery art and raises all gems to the ranks of extraordinary stones, boldly combining emeralds, amethysts, turquoises, opals, black diamonds, amber and rock crystal. In his ultimate quest for the finest stones, his path has crossed that of a 312.30-carat black diamond – The Spirit of de GRISOGONO, an almost 45.39-carat ruby – The Virgin Scarlet, and more recently two exceptional rought diamonds, The 4 of Fevereiro and The Constellation, respectively weighing 404 and 813 carats. Fascinated by these facets revealing the very soul of the stones, he has transformed their cuts into a distinctive style territory, from briolette to cushion and from pear to cabochon. He has become the supreme master of creations featuring generous volumes and sensual curves that are at once airy, flowing and subtly mobile. Joyful spirals, gold interlacing patterns, graceful undulations, delicious drops and cabochons carved out of stones, gems that catch the light, playing with contrasts in creating cleverly controlled chiaroscuro effects. He draws his inspiration from the natural beauty of women and the elements. Muses, inspirations and allegories of Art with a capital A, they are the original breath of life that fires this infinite passion for creating. A creativity infused with a hint of wild audacity.
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DIAMONDS TO LIVE IN LEGEND
“ Billions of years to become a diamond.
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Down to the depths of the upper mantle, a hidden treasure lying in the heart of the Earth. Under high temperature and pressure, billions and billions of carbon atoms bond together, starting to form a crystalline structure called diamond. One day, this precious treasure comes into the hands of the most audacious and talented jeweller ever. A mineral beauty that has become a legendary diamond.
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While precious stones bear witness to the geological history of our planet, they also testify to the creative history of de GRISOGONO. Among the thousands of minerals present on Earth, de GRISOGONO jewellery and high jewellery creation set the scene for countless exceptional stones including the rarest in the world. Mineral beauties hold a central place in its creations. Fawaz Gruosi loves their history, their power, the vibrant strength they encapsulate, their subtle nuances, the infinite possibilities of their interpretation and the profound and authentic emotions they convey. Among them, there is one that has proved supremely fascinating since the dawn of time. A universal talisman, it is considered the most precious, the noblest and the rarest of gems. A stone of peerless radiance, the hardest known material, it features an extremely simple crystallised carbon chemical composition. Its name is diamond, and with it, de GRISOGONO is writing another chapter in its legendary saga.
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THEY HAVE LEFT A LASTING IMPRINT; THEY HAVE ACHIEVED LEGENDARY STATUS. LIKE THE MAN WHO CREATED THEM, AND THE WOMEN WHO HAVE WORN THEM, THEY HAVE ENTWINED THEIR NAMES AND DESTINIES TO BECOME LEGENDARY ICONS. They are the jewellery collections by de GRISOGONO. They embody the distinctive style of Fawaz Gruosi, the natural-born creative who loves shaking up conventions, revisiting basics and classics with disconcerting boldness. He creates sensual, liberated models, infusing his creations with generous shapes, giving life to material and creating audacious volumes that cling to every curve and hollow of the feminine body. Immediately recognisable jewellery creations with a distinctive second skin effect induced by their precious, fluid nature ensuring perfect comfort. Adornments in which the scrolling motifs release the light that in turn intensifies the sparkle of the stones and endows the jewellery with an inimitably airy look and feel.
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Allegra Collection
/ ALL E GR A /
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A timeless style
ALLEGRA is and will forever remain unique. A timeless style that will endure forever. Its distinctive design has earned it a place among the greatest jewellery collections, the first and the most legendary from the Maison de GRISOGONO. It powerfully evokes the indestructible connection between two beings. A symbol of love, respect and passion, its intertwined rings create a joyful spiral, an infinite circle upon which the passage of time has no hold on feelings.
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Allegra Collection
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Transformable at will The ALLEGRA Collection is as legendary as a little black dress. A true classic that is worn day and night. An accessory that changes things up as the day wears on, the latest essential twist to your wardrobe. It appears in the guise of generous earrings revealing a dual nature composed of an ear stud and a hoop. The latter can be naturally and easily released to serve as a pendant. When hung from an adjustable leather necklace, the pendant is transformed from a choker to a sautoir interpretation. Once again, Fawaz Gruosi plays with jewellery codes and versatility. His ALLEGRA earrings reinvent themselves, retaining all their indescribable charm whether worn with ballet pumps or high heels.
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Allegra Collection
Nothing but Toi & Moi de GRISOGONO reinvents a great jewellery classic – the Toi & Moi. A duo symbolising the couple, a man and woman gazing at each other. A so-called “love token” item of jewellery, the most famous of which was gifted by Napoleon to Joséphine de Beauharnais in 1796. Fawaz Gruosi now teams his Toi & Moi with his most legendary motif – Allegra. A symbol of quintessential personal ties, whose power is multiplied through its two facing sets of intertwined diamond-set gold rings. A ring, earrings and a bracelet that form a natural and instinctive attachment with the wearer that becomes entirely reciprocal.
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Boule Collection
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Glamorous curves
Reflecting the perfect shape, it also evokes that of absolute femininity. Its awardwinning career caught the spotlight right from the start, sparkling at the CĂŠsar, Oscar and Cannes award ceremonies and playing an integral part in moment celebrating the talent of women and icons. Apparently predestined for fame and the world of cinema, this collection brings out the best in women, arrayed in gems and jewellery creations that leave a lasting glow.
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Boule Collection
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Ventaglio Collection
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A fan of precious stones
Launched in 2016, the VENTAGLIO collection passed its red carpet test with flying colours. Its legendary and instantly recognisable shape brings to mind that of a fan. Imbued with an Art Deco spirit and Haute Couture style, it combines confidently geometric lines, a powerful aesthetic impression and incredibly sensual elegance. A gemstone fan, a fluid lacework dancing across the hand, the wrist and in the hollow of the neck. In a kaleidoscope of icy and white diamonds, light and dark blue sapphires, pink sapphires and amethysts, white and black diamonds, the interplay of its coloured stones creates an unmistakable impression of movement.
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Ventaglio Collection
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Onde Collection
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Sculptural waves
We know it as sculptural and sensual, and now we discover it anew as generous and impetuous. Expressing the indescribable, perpetual movement of waves, the latest additions to the ONDE collection send their dainty undulations rippling across the heart of a diamond-set rosette motif attired in alternating white or rose gold tones. Despite their generous size, the earrings and ring display the same delicate artwork. Airy volumes, delicately chiselled lines and a fascinating sense of movement distil their seductive powers with unparalleled magnetism.
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Onde Collection
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THEIR NAMES ARE SUFFUSED WITH A WARMTH AND GENEROSITY CREATING A GENTLE, RHYTHMICAL SOUND. INSTRUMENTO, TONDO, ALLEGRA, GRAPPOLI, MECCANICO, NEW RETRO, collections with distinctive personalities that perfectly live up to their name. They are the watch collections by de GRISOGONO. Their distinctive signatures include a delicately asymmetrical structure, PVD blackened movements among which some feature the emblematic de GRISOGONO scrolling motifs, dense ‘wild’ gemsetting, stylised and substantially sized Arabic numerals, a crown set with a black diamond, and a strap dotted with galuchat.
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Eccentrica, new daring silhouette
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A daring, resolute and elegant silhouette opening up a whole new creative territory
de GRISOGONO unveils a new collection of ladies’ watches that – like all the jeweller’s creations – naturally seem to have been part of the brand forever. They radiate an aesthetic that instinctively creates a strong sense of belonging, freely interpreting – from dial to case, from lugs to crown, from stylised Arabic numerals to the galuchat strap – the distinctive signatures that have for more than 20 years reflected the emblematic de GRISOGONO style.
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ITS NAME EVOKES ITS EXTRAVAGANT AND ORIGINAL CHARACTER, ITS RESOLUTELY CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE, ITS SINGULAR
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AND EXTRAORDINARY NATURE
A watch whose proportions, together with the succession of off-centred circles composing its silhouette, immediately instil it with a distinctive and original character. By deliberately creating a nonconformist design based on a set of nested circles with varying diameters and centres, Fawaz Gruosi has found the key to a perfectly balanced geometry. The result is an impetuous watch that proclaims its bold nature. This elegant, self-confident, sensual and subtle creation vividly epitomises the multi-facetted, free-spirited de GRISOGONO woman. A case designed like an anthem to roundness, with a spellbinding depth effect created by the off-centred circles and the play on diamonds. A dial that tells the story of time in a sweep of stylised Arabic numerals opulently laid out around a bevelled inner bezel ring. A delicately asymmetrical architecture that extends through to the lugs – like two arms in which the round case nestles gently, enhanced by the seductive cadence of dense gemsetting. Its crown adorned with a black diamond and its galuchat-dotted strap set the perfect finishing touches of elegance to a watch endowed with the inimitable identity codes of the Maison de GRISOGONO that naturally predestine it for success. As is its custom, de GRISOGONO adopts an apparently simple approach in revisiting a traditional shape, transcended by the singular impetus and vision of Fawaz Gruosi.
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Legend in the making
/ L UNA / by de GR ISOG ONO
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A new collection of ladies’ watches that like all the jeweller’s creations naturally seem to have been part of the brand forever
This supremely feminine jewellery watch embodies the quintessential skills cultivated by de GRISOGONO. An encounter with the artisans who have gold and diamonds at the tips of their fingers. From the first sketch to the final polishing operation on these timepieces graced with heavenly curves, de GRISOGONO reveals the secrets of its ateliers.
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Legend in the making
VOLUME, ASYMMETRY AND HARMONY ARE THE KEYNOTES OF AN EXTRAORDINARY JEWELLERY WATCH More than six months dedicated to researching the perfect shape, curve, purity and balance for the watch. From first sketch to the wax model, from 3D modelling to the mock-up, along with gold casting, gemsetting and polishing: the very heart of this timepiece turned jewellery piece – and of this jewellery piece turned timepiece – relies on a clever blend of harmoniously balanced dimensions and asymmetrical effects. None of the lines are straight in this creation that is instead all about rounded curves. A cambered and bevelled bezel, a domed dial, along with half-moon outlines, all contribute to an atypical timepiece conceived as a piece of jewellery. The LUNA watch symbolises the de GRISOGONO philosophy based on an absolute aesthetic quest, that in turn calls for outstanding technical solutions in order to give life to form while adapting to function. Guided by the concise yet precise instructions provided by Fawaz Gruosi, 2D sketches and gouache paintings take shape beneath the deft pencil strokes of the in-house designers. The contours of the watch are then given specific measurements and degrees of curvature under the expert supervision of the engineers in the R&D department, taking into consideration the technical constraints relating to the making of such a model. In this original tandem between watchmaking and jewellery, the jewellery artisans have also sculpted the model by creating a wax prototype and shaping the supple material so as to achieve the closest possible resemblance with the initial design. The hand-crafted wax model, along with 3D modelling, then serve to fine-tune the shape of the watch and endow it with perfect proportions. Within this generous and audacious process, even the slightest change in its measurements means rethinking the entire piece. In this instance, the supreme quest for the most appealing possible shape involved more than 20 intermediate wax model stages. Before the watch is crafted in the noble and precious medium of gold, a last brass model is then produced and used to make the final necessary adjustments.
After selecting all the gems that will serve to adorn the watch, the lapidary sizes and adjusts the stones in step with the advancement of the setting work. The gemsetter follows a setting plan spread out in front of him and based on the mock-up in order to show the various positions of the stones. His talent and his ingenuity enable him to highlight the beauty of each gem. Beneath his skilled fingers, the metal gradually vanishes, giving pride of place to the radiant precious stones. Shade by shade, one diameter after another, his keen eye peering intently through the microscope alternates between traditional, bezel and ‘wild’ settings – the latter being a distinctive in-house de GRISOGONO technique. The case of the watch is adorned with a traditional setting and a random bezel setting, while the dial features the signature ‘wild’ setting. A generous 4.7mm-diameter diamond sparkles exultantly on the workbench. The gemsetter carefully places it at 6 o’clock. The stones rimming the bezel accentuate the curve of the bezel gracefully hugging the shape of the model. This complex rail setting is distinguished by baguette-cut gems set almost vertically due to the extreme rounding of the upper section. For ‘wild’ setting, he cleverly combines more than 35 different stone diameters in a liberated technique that creates a truly unique composition. Exquisitely interpreting the heavenly body so beloved by de GRISOGONO, the LUNA watch writes a new chapter in its aesthetic legend.
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/ A YEA R OF FOL IE S / Glamorously daring
From the red carpet in Cannes to the crystal clear waters of Porto Cervo, from the majestic glass dome of the Biennale des Antiquaires in Paris to the bright lights of Shanghai, de GRISOGONO travelled the world to present its latest High Jewellery collection set with the most desirable stones: hundreds of extremely high quality diamonds totalling thousands of carats. Exceptionally white, almost colourless gems of rare clarity. Imposing carat weights that effectively highlight the incomparable radiance of original cuts. A collection aptly named FOLIES that pays tribute to Fawaz Gruosi’s unbridled creativity, daring choices and unconventional approach. This fascinating and mysterious liberty is a gift that Fawaz Gruosi has always possessed. It is the very signature of the de GRISOGONO style.
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A Year of Folies
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High Jewellery creations from de GRISOGONO know exactly how to walk the red carpet. Decked out in the most daring High Jewellery creations dreamed up by Fawaz Gruosi, celebrities such as Bella Hadid, Jourdan Dunn, Ming Xi, Cheryl Cole and Kim Kardashian set the Festival on fire.
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A Year of Folies
Nina Agdal - «Fawaz Birthday Party» Porto Cervo / «Folies in Cannes» - Eden Roc / Biennale des Antiquaires / Shanghai Exhibition
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de GRISOGONO - Press & Public Relations Tel. +41 22 817 81 00 | press@degrisogono.com
www.degrisogono.com
DIGITAL PRESSKIT WWW.DEGRISOGONO-PRESS.COM LOGIN : BASELWORLD / PASSWORD : 2017