Swiss luxury jeweller
For people named Grisogono, see Grisogono (disambiguation).
De Grisogono is a Swiss luxuryjeweller founded in Geneva, Switzerland, in by Lebanese-Italian black diamond specialist Fawaz Gruosi.[1][2] The Italian name Grisogono is derived from the Latin Chrysogonus which comes from the Greek Chrysogonos χρῡσό-γονος, meaning "begotten of gold". The company filed for bankruptcy on 29 January In it was bought by the Damac Group of Dubai.
In , De Grisogono majority shareholder Fawaz Gruosi sold his a majority stake to SODIAM (trading arm of the Angolan state diamond company), a company partially controlled by the José Eduardo dos Santos family.[3]
In , De Grisogono entered into a new partnership with former Leviev executives David and Lisa Klein.[4][5]
"Creation I," a necklace by de Grisogono, was sold for nearly Dh million, in 's Christie's sale.[6][7]
In , 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 carat D Flawless stone, which was cut from a carat rough, was incorporated into a necklace designed by Fawaz Gruosi. It fetched million Swiss francs, beating the previous record for a D Flawless diamond by nearly five million Swiss francs.[8]
In January , Fawaz Gruosi supposedly left the company's board and his role as chief designer of De Grisogono. Céline Assimon was named CEO.[9] On 29 January , de Grisogono filed for bankruptcy.[10] In it was bought by the Damac Group of Dubai.[11][12] In August , SODIAM sold its remaining shares in De Grisogono in a move to dismantle dos Santos' financial empire.[13]
In , De Grisogono majority shareholder Fawaz Gruosi sold his shares to investors centered around Isabel dos Santos, daughter of José Eduardo dos Santos. The dos Santos family had bought the company to create a vertical diamond distribution chain Angola-Switzerland, and made SODIAM (trading arm of the Angolan state diamond company) invest $ million in De Grisogono. The investment apparently had no impact on the company's finances, and bonuses paid to the dos Santos family were funneled through shell companies in Malta and the British Virgin Islands, where Victoria Holding Limited served as intermediary owner of De Grisogono.[3]
In January De Grisogono 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.[10]