Graff: 65 years of a history built around the diamond
In Shanghai, Graff didn't just celebrate an anniversary. The British Maison transformed its 65-year jewelry history into a narrative of light, materials, and craftsmanship. Presented at The Orbitin the Xuhui district from September 13 to 21, 2025, the anniversary exhibition revisited a journey that began in London in 1960 and has become inextricably linked to some of the rarest diamonds in the world.
More than 100 rare pieces, displayed across seven themed spaces, created a journey where fine jewelry, archives, gemology, diamond cutting, and family heritage interacted. At the heart of this scenography was an extraordinary stone, the 157.80-carat Graff Infinity Diamond, presented alongside the spectacular tiara designed around it.
A historical clarification is necessary: Graff was founded in London in 1960, not in 1953. Laurence Graff, having worked in the workshops of the Hatton Garden jewelry district, gradually built a House whose identity is based less on the multiplication of motifs than on an obsession: to reveal the potential of exceptional stones.
This diamond culture explains Graff's unique position in the world of international high jewelry. The stone is not considered a mere component of the jewel; it constitutes its starting point.
The Maison explains that it is involved from the sourcing of the rough diamond to its cutting, polishing and mounting. This mastery of the different stages of transformation is one of the central themes of the Shanghai exhibition.
The visitor therefore does not just discover finished jewelry: he enters a story where gemology, technical precision, the search for proportions, setting and an intimate knowledge of light intersect.
Shanghai, a strategic showcase for the world of graffiti
The choice of Shanghai is not insignificant. The Chinese metropolis has a long-standing relationship with major international brands and with a clientele for whom the culture of luxury now combines heritage, experience and product knowledge.
Graff chose The Orbit, at 3299 Longteng Avenue in the Xuhui district, to open this anniversary exhibition to the public. Shanghai municipal authorities presented it as the first stop on an Asian tour.
The exhibition was organized into seven thematic spaces. Historical photographs, sketches, personal objects, films and multimedia displays traced Laurence Graff's trajectory, from his London beginnings to the development of a House now present through a large international network of boutiques.
The scenography thus had a dual function: to provoke wonder, but also to provide keys to understanding what differentiates an exceptional diamond from a merely spectacular stone.
Infinity Diamond: 157.80 carats at the heart of the exhibition
It's impossible to discuss this retrospective without mentioning its centerpiece: the Graff Infinity Diamond . This 157.80-carat white diamond , graded D color, boasts a heart shape whose proportions required particularly complex cutting. It originated from a 373-carat rough diamond discovered in Botswana . Graff describes it as one of the largest heart-shaped diamonds in existence.
Its visual power, however, does not rely solely on carat weight. In the world of diamonds, cut is crucial: it organizes the flow of light through the stone and directly influences its brilliance, fire, and balance. An exceptional diamond is therefore the result of a combination of natural rarity and human intervention.
For the Infinity Diamond, Graff extended this concept by designing a tiara whose architecture complements the central stone. The jewel is punctuated with additional heart-shaped diamonds, creating a composition in which the setting recedes as much as possible to allow the gem to take center stage. The tiara and its diamond officially formed the focal point of the Shanghai exhibition.
Historic diamonds to tell the story of Graff's evolution
The exhibition did not rely on a single spectacular stone. The Shanghai authorities also cited several diamonds that had marked the history of the House, including The Paragon, associated with 1989, The Icon, presented in the chronology of the year 2000, and the Letseng Legacy, associated with 2007.
These stones help to understand an essential aspect of Graff's positioning: the House builds its heritage as much through the collections it designs as through the exceptional diamonds it acquires, cuts or transforms.
Graff's official chronology thus includes other names that have become familiar to gem collectors, such as the 302.37-carat Graff Lesedi La Rona, the Wittelsbach-Graff, or the Infinity Diamond.
The Shanghai exhibition made this story tangible. Through the stones, the entire evolution of contemporary high jewelry was revealed: improved technologies for mapping rough stones, increasing precision in cutting, scientific knowledge of gems, and the constant search for a setting capable of maximizing light.
Butterfly, Tilda's Bow, Wild Flower: the other side of Graff
Reducing Graff to its record-breaking diamonds would be to miss the other dimension of the House: that of jewelry design. The exhibition presented several major signatures of its aesthetic vocabulary, notably Butterfly, Laurence Graff Signature, Tilda's Bow and Wild Flower.
The butterfly holds a special place. The butterfly shape allows artisans to play with pear, marquise, and brilliant-cut diamonds, creating light and almost mobile wings. In these pieces, the setting technique aims for both visual fluidity and luminous intensity.
Tilda's Bow, on the other hand, plays with the tension of a knotted ribbon. Wild Flower explores the floral repertoire, while Laurence Graff Signature graphically reinterprets the facets of the diamond.
These collections show why jewelry craftsmanship cannot be summed up by the number of carats: a great piece is also a matter of proportions, balance, mobility, comfort and setting.
From rough stone to jewel: an exhibition that teaches you to look
One of the strengths of the tour lay precisely in this educational dimension. Films and multimedia content revisited the diamond transformation process, while a presentation dedicated to the main shapes allowed visitors to observe five emblematic cuts: round, heart, pear, emerald, and oval.
This choice is relevant because two diamonds of identical weight can produce radically different impressions depending on their size and proportions. The emerald cut, for example, favors large facets and an almost architectural interpretation of the stone. The round brilliant cut seeks maximum light reflection. The pear shape combines roundness and tension, while the heart shape demands remarkable symmetry.
The exhibition then becomes a school of observation: it teaches why the value of jewelry is built by the association of raw material, the hand of the craftsman and the precision of the design.
The 4Cs, certification, and the quest for perfection
This approach inevitably brings to mind the famous 4Cs of diamonds : carat, color, clarity, and cut. Graff specifies that its diamonds are evaluated according to these criteria and that the majority of its stones over 0.50 carats come with a certificate from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA). For a diamond like the Infinity, the letter D indicates the highest grade on the color scale applied to white diamonds.
But fine jewelry adds a dimension to gemological data that cannot be reduced to a certificate: the diamond cutter's eye, the ability to envision a cut in the rough stone, and then the jeweler's talent for constructing a creation around the stone. It is precisely this boundary between science and intuition that gives the Graff exhibition its depth.
Diamond traceability: what Graff officially states
In contemporary luxury, beauty can no longer be completely dissociated from the question of provenance.
Graff states that its diamonds are sourced in accordance with the Kimberley Process, an international framework designed to regulate the trade in conflict-related rough diamonds. The company also indicates that its sourcing and polishing division, Safdico, adheres to De Beers' principles of good practice and audit procedures.
The wording must, however, remain precise. The Kimberley Process is a certification and control mechanism for the trade in rough diamonds; it should not be presented as a comprehensive environmental guarantee covering all the impacts of a jewelry supply chain.
This nuance is important. For a luxury house, the notion of responsible jewelry today rests on several layers: origin of the stones, working conditions, control of the supply chain, documentation, certification and the ability to make this information accessible.
Therefore, initial claims regarding a precise reduction of environmental impacts or specific support for communities should only be retained when they can be linked to documented commitments.
An Asian tour rather than a Paris-New York-Tokyo itinerary
The initial article mentioned Paris, New York, and Tokyo as future stops. To date, the official sources consulted do not allow us to establish this itinerary.
The official communication surrounding the Shanghai exhibition referred to it as the first stop on an Asian tour. Following Shanghai, the anniversary exhibition was indeed presented at theION Art Gallery in Singapore in October 2025, again focusing on the Infinity Tiara and Graff's iconic creations. Graff's Singaporean website also promoted this anniversary exhibition.
For sustainable SEO content, it is therefore better to stick to confirmed destinations rather than turning hypotheses into an official schedule.
Why does this exhibition extend beyond Graff's anniversary?
The major brands have realized that their heritage can no longer exist solely in shop windows.
An exhibition like Graff's transforms fine jewelry into a cultural experience. It explains the craftsmanship, materializes the brand's history, and offers visitors something that digital images struggle to convey: the true scale of a diamond, its interaction with light, the differences between cuts, and the meticulousness of the setting.
It is also a very contemporary way of building desirability. The product is no longer isolated; it becomes the final chapter of a story made up of discovery, expertise, transformation and transmission.
In Shanghai, Graff thus made its 65th anniversary less a retrospective than a manifesto: that of a House for which the exceptional diamond remains the starting point, but never the entirety of the story.
Graffiti, a legacy of light looking towards the future
Sixty-five years after its creation, Graff continues to build its identity around an almost elementary idea: a rare stone should not be dominated by design, but revealed by it.
The157.80 carat Infinity Diamond, the historic diamonds, the Butterfly or Tilda's Bow collections and the demonstrations devoted to cutting all tell this same story.
The Shanghai exhibition will thus have offered something more precious than a succession of showcases: an understanding of the time, technique and patience required to transform an exceptional geological material into a work of high jewelry.
And perhaps this is Graff's true definition of luxury: to make natural rarity an emotion destined to transcend generations.
FAQ – 65th Anniversary Graffiti Exhibition in Shanghai
When did the 65th anniversary Graff exhibition take place in Shanghai?
It was open to the public from September 13 to 21, 2025 at The Orbit, in the Xuhui district of Shanghai.
What was the centerpiece of the exhibition?
The Graff Infinity Diamond, a D-color heart-shaped diamond weighing 157.80 carats, is presented with the Infinity tiara designed around this exceptional stone.
In what year was Graff founded?
Laurence Graff founded the House in London in 1960, which explains the celebration of its 65th anniversary in 2025.
Official sources in French
Graff France – History and Heritage, for the founding of the House in 1960 and its jewelry legacy. Consult the official source Graff – History and Heritage
Graff France – History of Rare Diamonds, for the Infinity Diamond, its 157.80 carats, its D color, and the 373-carat rough diamond from which it was cut. See the official Graff source — Rare Diamonds
Graff France – Frequently Asked Questions, for the Kimberley Process, GIA certificates, the 4Cs, and information related to diamond sourcing. See the official Graff source – Diamond FAQs
