Harry Winston equals happy wedding

Will you marry me?” are probably the four most important words a woman will hear in her lifetime. The question is the culmination of months, if not years, of courtship.

“I can’t live without you” becomes “I want to live and share my life with you” and “I love you” becomes “I will love you” forever. That moment when a man pops the question to a woman is one that will always be imprinted in a couple’s minds for the rest of their lives. Given such a momentous occasion, what is an engagement without a diamond ring? Moreover, how can we talk diamond engagement rings and not think of Harry Winston?

Giving and receiving an engagement ring is a very personal and intimate experience that requires not just true love but careful and thoughtful consideration. Needless to say, it is helpful to know certain things about diamonds to make the perfect choice; here’s some wise counsel from Harry Winston, “The King of Diamonds.”

DIAMONDS 101

When selecting a diamond, a person is typically guided by what is known in the jewelry industry as the 4 C’s (cut, color, clarity and carat) but at Harry Winston, diamonds go beyond the 4 C’s and all other standards that can be translated into a gemological report.

Harry Winston once said, “A good diamond, however small, is a possession to be prized for generations.” His love and passion for diamonds motivated him his entire life to use only the best diamonds to carry his name.

• Cut: This is measured for the brilliance of the diamond and not its weight; engagement rings are often round or emerald cut but at Harry Winston, you will also find the cushion cut, the radiant cut, the square emerald cut, the oval, pear, marquise and heart-shaped cut, all handcrafted, one at a time. The most in-demand diamond engagement rings at Harry Winston are those with round brilliant, cushion, emerald and cushion micropavé cuts.

Harry Winston-Manila carries the round, the brilliant, the oval and emerald cuts in .72 to 2 carats. I tell you I have never seen more brilliant diamonds than the ones at Harry Winston. It was almost impossible to tell the sizes and the cuts of the diamonds because they just sparkled so much, it was hypnotizing.

• Color: Diamonds are transparent and the less color they have, the more rare they are. Color is graded from D to Z, with D, E and F considered as colorless, the best possible kind. Fancy colored ones like yellow, pink and blue diamonds are exceptions because there are very few in existence and unlike the white (transparent) diamonds, they are judged for the intensity of their hue; the more color they have, the rarer and more valuable they are.

At Harry Winston, only diamonds with colors D, E and F are used; over the years, Harry Winston has acquired some of the most remarkable and rare diamonds in the world including the blue-colored Hope Diamond, the Portuguese Diamond, the Pink Nur-ul-Ain Diamond, the Sierra Leone Diamond, the champagne-colored Lesotho Diamond and, of course, the 241 carat uncut diamond that became popularly known as the Taylor-Burton diamond.

In the mid-90’s, Harry Winston donated the 40 plus carat Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian Institution and in 1997 it became the centerpiece of the permanent jewelry exhibit at the Harry Winston Gallery of the Smithsonian; Winston is the only jeweler to have a museum gallery in his name.

• Clarity: Most diamonds have “inclusions” or what are known as nature’s birthmarks that look like tiny crystals, clouds or feathers; diamonds without inclusions are considered flawless or internally flawless.

The diamonds at Harry Winston are flawless and, if any, inclusions in their diamonds are only visible under 10X power magnification.

• Carat: One carat is measured as 100 points or 1/5 of a gram; while certain diamonds carry more weight than others, it does not necessarily mean they are more valuable. Some diamonds with the same carat weight do not always have the same brilliance and just like color or clarity, carat is a personal preference; some women prefer size versus sparkle while others prefer color versus size.

Harry Winston carries a whole spectrum of diamond sizes but if you do not find the size you want at any of the Harry Winston stores, you can always request for a custom-made ring in a carat size of your liking. One of the most famous engagement rings in the world would be the Harry Winston 40-carat marquise-cut Lesotho III diamond ring given by Aristotle Onassis to Jackie Kennedy before they wed in Greece. The actress Jennifer Gardner also wears a 4.5- carat Harry Winston engagement ring from husband Ben Affleck.

Harry Winston diamond corporation

While Harry Winston may have found its humble beginnings in Los Angeles, the specialty diamond company is now based in Toronto. In 2004, Aber Diamond Corporation of Canada bought 40 percent of Harry Winston to create the Harry Winston Diamond Corporation, a merger that combines the strategic bookends of the diamond business — mining and retail. The corporation procures diamonds from global sources that adhere to the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme, the industry standard that governs the purchase of diamonds from non-conflict areas.

This means Harry Winston has never been in the business of buying or selling what are commonly known as “blood diamonds.”

Harry Winston and Adora

It took two years for us to bring Harry Winston to the Philippines, according to Emmanuel “Eman” Pineda, owner of Adora. Eman added that he never considered bringing any other jeweler into Adora because for him Harry Winston is simply the best in diamonds.

He explains that “Adora is about editing and curating the best merchandise for our customers and naturally the store must be able to offer jewelry, more specifically diamonds. What other brand can there be but Harry Winston?”

At Harry Winston in Manila, you will find a choice selection of engagement rings, wedding bands, bracelets, necklaces, earring and watches.

Eman is proud to work with Harry Winston because they share the same core business values. He told me that just like Harry Winston’s gems, the products in Adora are rare and exclusive, of exquisite quality and exceptional craftsmanship, the absolute ultimate.

I asked Eman when the time comes, what kind of diamond will he give his girlfriend and he said, “A simple one-carat D, flawless solitaire in a classic Winston setting; I would like my future wife to wear it every day, to remember me. I want to give her something discreet, the right size, simple but knowing between us that it is the perfect diamond in the world.”

So goes the story of “When Eman met Harry” and their shared love for diamonds.

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Harry Winston is located at Adora, ground floor of Greenbelt 5, Ayala Center, Makati City; call 0917-5874037.