Woman at a Jewelry Store

Korloff

Korloff is the name of a company that manufactures and sells jewelry, watches, couture and accessories. The firm is known for boldly mixing materials with 18 karat gold and combining colors in its pieces at its workshops in Lyon, France.

You could be forgiven for guessing that the jewelry company Korloff was founded by a man or woman with the same name, a moniker that he passed down to a precious gem he purchased and polished. But you would be wrong.

Counter-intuitively, the Korloff company was founded by Daniel Paillasseur who is not related in any way to the Russian family of nobles, Korloff-Spojnikoff. Rather, he named the firm after the Korloff Noir, an incredible black diamond that was the prized possession of that family for generations.

The Korloff Noir, which weighed 421 carats in its rough state, had 57 edges cut into it, reducing it to a still-impressive 88 carats of polished diamond. Paillasseur took possession of the stone and insured it for a cool $37 million.

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