Harry Winston, jeweler to the stars
(CBS News) We don't know (yet!) the name of tonight's Best Actor or Actress, but we do know the name of Oscar night's KING OF DIAMONDS. Here's Serena Altschul:
When it comes to diamonds, one name in Hollywood shines brightest: Harry Winston.
Known as jeweler to the stars, the 81-year-old diamond company has outfitted celebrities off and on screen for decades.
Even Marilyn Monroe couldn't help but sing about it in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes": "Talk to me, Harry Winston. Tell me all about it."
Nina Garcia, creative director of Marie Claire magazine, and a judge on the hit reality show "Project Runway," calls Harry Winston "the jeweler of jewels."
"Really, it's another world. To enter into the Harry Winston world is to be in a dream," she told Altschul. "It's the stuff of legends."
And so for every Oscar night, Harry Winston loans out some of its finest pieces to nominees, presenters and Hollywood legends.
Spokeswoman Meredith Keller and her team help celebrities pick out that perfect item, like a bracelet with 400 diamonds, similar to one worn by Halle Berry to the Golden Globes. According to Keller, it's worth "a little over half a million dollars."
Big-ticket items like the bracelet and the $9.5 million diamond and tourmaline necklace come with their own security detail.
Oscars: Insuring body parts and borrowed bling
Garcia said what stars are seen wearing on the Oscar red carpet can drive jewelry sales: "What goes on that day sets the precedent for many sales around the world. The most important runway is that red carpet."
After the show, the jewels go back to Harry Winston. But in 1994, Sharon Stone claimed the diamond necklace she wore was actually a gift from the jeweler. The company said, "No way." The dispute was settled -- Harry Winston got its jewels back.
The man Harry Winston was the son of a Santa Monica jewelry store owner. He had a keen eye that helped him acquire some of the world's most famous diamonds.
By the time he died in 1978, he was known as the "king of diamonds" -- and for bringing glamor to the red carpet.
In 1944 he became the first to loan out pieces for an actress to wear on Oscar night, said Keller. "That was for Jennifer Jones, who went on that night to win the Best Actress Oscar. And so a tradition, and the nickname for Winston of 'jeweler to the stars,' was really born that night."
And at the 1970 Oscars Elizabeth Taylor wore one of Winston's most famous creations: a 69-carat diamond necklace, a gift from husband Richard Burton.
Then in 1998, Gloria Stuart donned a deep-blue diamond pendant inspired by the the one she wore in "Titanic."
It was all based upon another jewel that Harry Winston once owned, the Hope Diamond. He donated it to the Smithsonian Institution in 1958 -- sending it in the mail.
As for who we'll see tonight on the red carpet glittering in Harry Winston, that's a secret.
But what we do know is that rocks like these can make anyone feel like a star.
"If you're at the Oscars and you're on the red carpet and you're wearing Harry Winston, what does that mean?" asked Altschul.
"You are amongst a group of elite Hollywood actresses that have worn Harry Winston," said Garcia. "You have reached the creme de la creme. You have arrived."
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