A Touch of Frost

The 90th Academy Awards last month served as the latest reminder of Harry Winston’s lasting ability for seizing the moment. A cluster of leading actresses including Dame Helen Mirren, Nicole Kidman and Salma Hayek took to the red carpet with grace, frosted with diamonds and rare gems from the house that he founded. At this time of year, the media industry is abuzz with talk detailing who wore which gems at this annual showcase, yet what sparked the conversation was Winston’s pioneering foresight. In 1944, Winston draped glittering diamonds upon the evening’s Best Actress winner, Jennifer Jones, and a new era of red carpet glamour was born. However, the late Winston was not only enraptured by grand scale events like a Hollywood gala night – he could be equally enamoured by a more humble moment, such as the subtle kiss of winter. It was away from the bright lights and fanfare that Winston attentively found a moment that would inspire his most emlematic motif: the Winston Cluster.

The house recounts the moment with a little story, that details how a December night in the 1940s ‘forever changed the way Mr. Winston saw diamonds.’ The tale explains how the founder, was ‘inspired by the way the fresh winter’s snow glistened on a decorative holly wreath hanging on the door of his Scarsdale estate, highlighting the similarities between the beauty of nature and diamonds. In the same way the intertwining leaves (not the branches) created the sculptured shape of the wreath, Mr. Winston decided that diamonds (rather than their settings), should dictate the design of his jewels.’ Nevdon Koumrouyan, then head designer for the house, worked alongside Winston in the 1940s to bring the Cluster motif to life, and set in motion a design that would push the envelope of fine jewellery craftsmanship –and serve as the cornerstone for all Harry Winston design. This month, the Winston Cluster has been reimagined in a new collection. Full of colour and life, the contemporary

interpretation for 2018 puts exceptional emeralds, rubies, and sapphires at the respective forefront. As with the snowfall upon Winston’s festive wreath, the components seemingly float thanks to near-invisible platinum settings. The gems are grouped together and matched in perfect proportion, perfectly angled to capture the brilliance of each stone from every direction – allowing its fire and innate beauty to be fully admired. They add another chapter to a classic design; when an example of the Cluster (laced into a pair of earrings) came up for auction at Christie’s in 2015, international jewellery specialist Tom Burstein remarked that the Winston Cluster “is considered by many to be the ‘little black dress’ of a classic jewellery wardrobe”. It was the vision of Harry Winston that saw him crowned the King of Diamonds, and the genesis for his daring designs was finding inspiration in unlikely places – be that the grand echelons of Hollywood, or the humble holly wreath.

The Winston Cluster is considered by many to be the ‘little black dress’ of a classic jewellery wardrobe