Graff is kicking off a global exhibition tour marking its 65th anniversary with the opening of a one-week showcase in Shanghai on Saturday.
Until Sept. 21 at the West Bund Orbit, a cultural center along the banks of the Huangpu River in the Xihui financial district, some 350 pieces retrace the story that began when a 15-year-old Laurence Graff became an apprentice in the Hatton Gardens jewelry district of London.
By the time he opened his namesake company in 1960, his eye for diamonds was well established. What comes next is chronicled through seven areas spread across a nearly 14,000-square-foot space.
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In one room, over 30 facsimiles of the house’s famous diamond — roughs and cut gems — are on display, including the Windsor Yellows, acquired at a Geneva auction of jewels that belonged to Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor; the Lesotho Promise, a 603-carat rough that once cut, became the eponymous high jewelry necklace presented in 2009; and the Graff Lesotho Pink, which broke the dollar-per-carat price record for the stones discovered in the country’s Letseng mine.
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Another space is dedicated to white diamonds.
There’s also a replica of the office of the founder, who is now the chairman of the house, while his son François Graff serves as chief executive officer. House signatures are also explored, such as the Tilda’s Bow, which nods to the bond between the elder Graff and his granddaughter.
High jewelry pieces are also on display. Serving as the crown jewel of the exhibition is the Infinity tiara, with its namesake heart-shaped 157.80-carat diamond, cut from a 373-carat rough discovered at the Karowe mine in Botswana.
Beyond its size, it is remarkable by its contours that align with Graff’s 1,109-carat Lesedi La Rona gemstone, which yielded an emerald-cut diamond that was at the time the largest diamond of the highest color and clarity ever certified by the Gemological Institute of America.
After Shanghai, Graff’s anniversary exhibition will head to Singapore, showing from Oct. 15 to 26, and Hong Kong from Nov. 6. Further stops around the world are planned for early 2026.