De Grisogono


De Grisogono is a Swiss luxury jeweller. It was founded in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1993 by black diamond specialist Fawaz Gruosi, an Italian of Lebanese origin. The Italian name Grisogono is derived from the Latin Chrysogonus which comes from the Greek Chrysogonos χρῡσό-γονος, meaning "begotten of gold".

Overview

In 2012 Gruosi had to give up the majority in De Grisogono. The majority was taken over by investors around the richest woman in Africa, the autocrat’s daughter Isabel dos Santos from Angola. Dos Santos had quietly routed millions of dollars through shell companies in Malta and the British Virgin Islands.
In 2017, De Grisogono entered into a new partnership with former Leviev executives David and Lisa Klein.
"Creation I," a necklace by de Grisogono, was sold for nearly Dh125 million, in 2017's Christie's sale.
In 2017, the company set a new record at Christie's Magnificent Jewels sale in Geneva when it sold the world's biggest-ever emerald cut diamond offered at auction. The 163.41-carat D Flawless stone, which was cut from a 404 carat rough, was incorporated into a necklace designed by Fawaz Gruosi. It fetched 33.5 million Swiss francs, beating the previous record for a D Flawless diamond by nearly five million Swiss francs.
In January 2020 the company was named in the "Luanda Leaks" investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists as being part of the business empire of Angola's Isabel dos Santos.
On 29 January 2020 de Grisogono filed for bankruptcy.