Private company

De Grisogono

Swiss luxury jeweller

De Grisogono is a Swiss luxury jeweller founded in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1993 by Lebanese-Italian black diamond specialist Fawaz Gruosi. 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 2020.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1993Founded1
Gustavia (Saint-Barthélemy) — Cour de Vendôme
Photo: User:Mattes, CC BY 2.0 de, via Wikimedia Commons4

De Grisogono is a Swiss luxury jeweller founded in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1993 by Lebanese-Italian black diamond specialist Fawaz Gruosi. 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 2020. In 2022 it was bought by the Damac Group of Dubai.2

The story

In 2012, De Grisogono majority shareholder Fawaz Gruosi sold his majority stake to SODIAM (trading arm of the Angolan state diamond company), a company partially controlled by the José Eduardo dos Santos family.

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 2019, Fawaz Gruosi supposedly left the company's board and his role as chief designer of De Grisogono. Céline Assimon was named CEO. On 29 January 2020, de Grisogono filed for bankruptcy. In 2022 it was bought by the Damac Group of Dubai. In August 2024, SODIAM sold its remaining shares in De Grisogono in a move to dismantle dos Santos' financial empire.

From Wikipedia’s article on De Grisogono, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Timeline

  1. 1993Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4