Crafting intricate settings for contemporary haute joaillerie can be a painstaking task, with artisans meticulously jigsawing an assortment of stones and metals into mind-bending configurations. Sometimes, though, the simplest-seeming pieces require the most effort, says Laurence Graff, the 85-year-old English jeweller and entrepreneur who in 1962 opened his first two shops in London’s Hatton Garden jewellery district and now oversees an international empire. It can take years to amass gems in coordinated sizes, colours and cuts to complete what may end up looking like a casual, if lavish, rope of stones. “We must be patient,” Graff says. This double-strand necklace, with a total of 171 perfectly matched round white and yellow diamonds in graduated proportions (the largest is just over four carats), may be the ultimate example of why it pays to wait. Graff High Jewellery necklace, price on request, graff.com.
