Continued from back…
1-2) Harry Winston Inc. is headquartered at 5th Ave New, York City…Dear Well Wishers,
Due to my passionate hobby, we have a small but, well known group of collecting rare records in Mumbaiin 60-70’s. One of them was Anil/Anya Shinde. When he came to know that, I was planning to got to USA, he gave me his father’s business card and told me “Jayu, if you need any help in NYCity, call my father.” That was in 1982…
As they say, ‘Where there’s a will there’s a way.’ We did settle in NYC and one fine morning I called Mr. Shinde.He knew about me already from his son Anya and told me to see him at his office. Well, I went to see him next day in his office with very tight security and was flabbergasted..! Mr. Shinde was a chief jewelry designer of that that word famous and prestigious office of Harry Winston..! I was amazed to see Shinde’s office. His studio was full of Raw Diamonds/Rough Diamonds, gems and drawings. Later, Shinde gave me tour of his office building. We had a good long talk and he give me valuable advice. When we became to know well each other, he used to come our house periodically since we lived in Queens…
Some of Ambaji Shinde’s designed jewelry…
Harry Winston do not sale any jewelry below $ 50,000 in their shop…
Harry Winston was an American jeweler. He donated the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian Institution in 1958 after owning it for a decade. He also traded the Portuguese Diamond to the Smithsonian in 1963 in exchange for 3,800 carats of small diamonds. Winston founded the Harry Winston Inc. in New York City in 1932. He had been called by many the “King of Diamonds”…
1) Jeweler Harry Winston… 2-3) Chief Jewelry Designer Ambaji Shinde in his office with his priceless diamond jewelry creations…
Ambaji Venkatesh Shinde was a prominent jewelry designer in New York. The book “Harry Winston The Ultimate Jeweler” published in 1984 acknowledges Ambaji Shinde as “one of the most talented designers in the world today.” Proud to mentionShinde was considered number one jewelry designer in the world…
Ambaji Shinde – the King of Natural Diamonds
Sir J. J. School of Art, Mumbai…
The only common factor between Shinde and me was, we were graduated from the same art school Sir J. J. School of Art Mumbai, which is still considered one of Asia’s best art schools…
His first job was at Narottamdas Jhaveri where he designed ornate silverware, trophies and jewelry. He was hired by Nanubhai Jhaveri in 1941 where he worked for nearly 20 years designing jewelry for the Maharajas. He followed the rich Indian tradition in his designs. He had a small picture of the Flying Apsara from Ajanta cave number in his office. The design criteria changed when the Maharajas started to go abroad and desired western style jewelry…
Jeweler Harry Winston met him in Bombay 1955 and recognized a kindred soul and eventually hired him in 1962. He soon developed a gemstone driven style transforming fine jewelry into fine art. Harry Winston invented flexible, three-dimensional, near invisible mountings which freed the stones from heavy metal surrounds…
Harry Winston got acquainted with Ambaji Shinde in 1955 during his regular travel to Bombay. Their friendship would last till 1978 until Harry Winston left this world at the age of 84 years. After the death of Harry Winston Ambaji Shinde would continue to support the style established by the Harry Winston Jewelry House and create new jewelry masterpieces…
1) Handsome Ambaji Shinde… 2) Ambaji Shinde at our home… 3) Ambaji Shinde at his home…
Harry Winston has been a prominent presence at the Academy Awards for decades, lending and selling jewelry to many stars. In 1944 he became the first to loan out pieces for an actress to wear on Oscar night, “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.”
As you may know, The 97th Academy/Oscar Awards ceremony is on Sunday, March 2, 2025, It is our pleasure to share this story with pride…
Thanx with regards,
Jayant & Veena Kulkarni.
Sharing is Caring…
To be continued… Harry Winston & Ambaji Shinde’s designed jewelry at Oscar night.