Ultra-Rich Jeweler to Oprah ‘Severely Affected’ by Pandemic
- Graff Diamonds forced to close stores, delay new collection
- Predicting firm’s 2020 performance is ‘very problematic’
Laurence Graff had a big 2019. His jewelry company put one of the world’s largest precious stones up for sale, bought the premises of its flagship store in New York and opened another in Paris.
This year couldn’t have started any more differently for the jeweler, who’s worth $5 billion and counts Oprah Winfrey and the Sultan of Brunei among his clients.
Pandemic-related lockdowns “severely affected all areas of our business,” including being forced to close stores and delay the launch of a new collection, Graff’s eponymous firm said in a recent filing. Predicting this year’s performance is “very problematic.”