The Mouawad Magic

Lebanese diamond dealer Robert Mouawad first appeared on the diamond scene in the 1970s. Soon his very presence in the sale or auction room was enough to send pulses racing when it was realized that a new, significiant player had appeared. Along with his two contemporaries, Sheikh Ahmed Fitaihi of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and Laurence Graff of London, he has been responsible for stone of the most astonishing record diamond prices achieved in recent years.

The Mouawad family business dates from 1890 when Daoud Mouawad, Robert's grandfather, established a small jewelry workshop in Beirut, Lebanon, after learning the craft in New York and Mexico. Later, Doaud's son, Fayez, broadened the scope of the business by moving to Saudi Arabia in 1950. The timing proved to be excellent and it enabled the family to capitalize on the country's growing wealth and to benefit from the increasing oil revenues in the Persian Gulf. Once Fayez handed the reins of the business over to his son, Robert Mouawad was to expand to Europe, development North American and Far Eastern connections, and to transform his family's jewelry business into the global empire it has become today.

Not all of Mr. Mouawad's diamond acquisitions have been made at auctions. In March of 1991, in Antwerp, he purchased a 284.6-carat rough diamond that had been found in the Aredor Mine in Guinea, Africa. Through his own company's office in Belgium, it was faceted into the largest diamond in his collection bearing his name: a magnificent emerald cut later named the Mouawad Magic, with a weight of 108.81 carats. It measures 32.91 by 20.73 by 16.83 mm. The D-color, Internally Flawless gem is considered a collection item and as a result is "not for sale" at this present time.