Orgin of Tolkowsky

Back when South Africa was experiencing its first diamond rush in 1866, the Tolkowsky family was already entrenched in the diamond trade. Five generations of Tolkowskys bought, sold, cut and polished diamonds before Sir Gabriel S.Tolkowsky (Gabi), the architect of the magnificent Gabrielle Diamond®, entered the family business in 1956. Learning the trade under the watchful gaze of his father Jean Tolkowsky, it was his great uncle, Marcel Tolkowsky, who had set the precise parameters of the round brilliant cut--'a cut that is still considered the 'ideal' brilliant cut to this day.

Gabi would go on to set a new standard all his own. Over Gabi’s 52 yr career, he  gained worldwide renown and earned enormous respect for his legendary achievements in the Diamond Industry. Gabi served more than 20 years as the Managing Director and Chairman of Diatrada N.V ,which represented the polished division of De Beers in Antwerp. He was also personally entrusted to cut some of the world’s largest and most valuable diamonds, which included polishing  De Beers’ most exceptional diamonds. Then, in 1995 he became a worldwide consultant to the DeBeers Group. As a result of those experiences, alone, he has seen/touched more rough diamonds than anyone alive.  

Two of the most famous diamonds he created were  the Centenary, which today remains the world’s largest colorless flawless modern cut diamond (weighing an incredible 273.85 carats) and the Golden Jubilee, a 545.67- carat, fancy intense yellow-brown Golden Jubilee diamond. Certified by the GIA as the largest of all polished diamonds, the Golden Jubilee was presented to the King of Thailand in celebration of the 50th Anniversary of his ascension to the throne. To this very day, the Golden Jubilee remains the largest of all faceted diamonds.

After gaining worldwide acclaim,  his unprecedented experiences cutting The Golden Jubilee and the Centenery at the same time (i.e. a process that took over 3 years in a secret compound built by DeBeers) Gabi devoted himself wholly and solely to his greatest passion: the creation of the Gabrielle Diamond, the diamond with his feminine namesake.