In the mid 1960′s, while still in high school, I started working part time in our family retail jewelry business which had been founded in 1910 by my great grandfather.  My grandfather, who started working in the business in 1915, and my father who joined him after serving in World War II were both active in the business at that time,  They were very innovative and unique for a retail store in that they had a diamond cutting wheel and diamond cutter on the selling floor of our retail store.  They also had an enclosed diamond room where customers could view loose diamonds and see them under the microscope.  Although the GIA [Gemological Institute of America] first began issuing certifications on diamonds in 1955, retailers and the consumer were unfamiliar with them. At the time our relatively small store was selling about a dozen engagement rings a day.

We bought most of our diamonds from Harry Winston  who used to have a large wholesale division.  There were three qualites we purchased and sold.  Our top quality was a gem color [D to F] in a flawless to VVS clarity, then a F-G color VS clarity and lastly a G-H-I color SI2  clarity.  Since there were no GIA certificates our customers would either take the diamond to an independent appraiser our trust in our reputation and use our own appraisal.

Around 1969 our salesman from Harry Winston who had become a good friend of my father was to fly to a jewelry show with some of his inventory. He was found robbed and shot to death in his car at the airport.  We gradually wound down our relationship with Winston.

In 1971, I graduated from college and entered the business full time. My grandfather had passed away by this time.  My father and I opened a total of five locations over the next couple of years and we started going on overseas diamond buying trips several times a year to the diamond cutting center at Ramat Gan, Israel.  Buying here was a different experience.  The wholesale cutting center consisted of time two high security high rise buildings.  The top floor of one of them, which was lit by natural northern light, housed the diamond bourse. Here we would sit at long tables and our diamond broker would get the word out as to what we were in the market for.

Representatives from the different cutters would bring to us large parcels of diamonds for us to consider.  The asking prices were almost always to high.  If interested, we would make an offer on the parcel. If the parcel was larger then what we wanted we could offer on a portion of it.  If we picked individual stones from the parcel the price would be higher.  We rarely got an answer the same day as to if our offer was accepted.  Since we were making offers on many parcels we never knew until the last day as to the total number of offers accepted. Our diamond broker would ship the diamonds back to us. We would send many of these diamonds to the GIA, which we began using at  this time, for certification.

Today,over 100 years after my great grandfather founded H.L. Gross & Bro. our business still consists of selling diamonds in our store but now we also sell on our online site Since1910.com as well as to wholesalers and diamond cutters worldwide through our wholesale division.  Almost all our diamonds today are GIA certified.  When I started in the business in the 1960′s we would sit down with a customer and although we would show them the diamond under a microscope and point out why one would be more expensive then the next we would stress the beauty, romance and tradition of the diamond to make a sale.

Today the sale is more likely made on the desirability of the GIA certificate that accompanies it which includes all of its technical details.

Michael Gross
President
4th generation Since1910.com