London's streets are no longer paved with gold, they're paved with diamonds. Fuelled in part by style icons like footballer David Beckham or hip-hopper Missy Elliot, as likely to wear sparklers with sports gear and jeans as they are at awards ceremonies, the increasing popularity of diamonds has turned them from a nice-to-have into a must-have.
Over the last year or two, London’s retail jewellery market has come to reflect this trend — notably with the arrival of new diamond specialists like Wint and Kidd and DeBeers.
Both on and off Old Bond Street — London’s haute couture and fine gem quarter — forwardthinking jewellery shops have eliminated the daunting bank-vault doors and mannered velvet-pillow presentation that has long characterised jewellery shopping.
Even established rocks-on-the-block Asprey and Garrard has repositioned as two distinct “luxury lifestyle” destinations — injecting some much-needed “bling” into the otherwise staid niche it shares with traditional neighbors like Tiffany’s, Bulgari and Cartier.
