L egacy

Jeremy Morris at the David Morris headquarters on

London’s New Bond Street. The interior of the 1905
listed building has recently been refurbished by the
renowned architect David Collins

26 DJWE Special
 Family gems

T
Rare rubies, diamonds and all that glitters is the key
ingredient to this family fortune tale.
By Orna Ballout

o many, it would
seem like a
mammoth task
taking reign of a
business renowned
for enticing royal
clients and Hollywood’s elite, especially when
the predecessor is someone close to you ...
someone you strive to impress.
This, however, is something that Jeremy
Morris has taken in his stride since he became
Managing Director of David Morris in 2003, a
business started by his father in London in
1959. “I feel very fortunate to be in a position
to run a solidly established family business,
although of course there is always the
self-imposed pressure of wanting to maintain
the high standards set by my father, as well as
take it to the next level. This is not such a bad
thing,” he reveals.
The brand is renowned for its beautifully
hand-crafted jewelry consisting of rare
masterpieces, with a clientele of women, who,
according to Jeremy, “have an appreciation for
unique pieces with flair that set them apart
from their contemporaries.’
As a youngster, Jeremy didn’t always
envisage following in his father’s footsteps, “I
imagined I would make a different career for
myself, but eventually found myself becoming
more and more interested in all that the family
business had to offer. Luckily I learned that I
was quite a good designer!”
The fabulous designs have been spotted
adorning celebrities including Beyonce
Knowles, Cheryl Cole and Salma Hayek. And

DJWE Special 27
L egacy
the company has racked up a reputation of
catering to the most successful and style savvy
women in the world including, Catherine Zeta
Jones, Barbra Streisand, Queen Rania of
Jordan and Victoria Beckham; an
accomplishment Jeremy acknowledges fondly,
“We’ve been honoured to have many of the
world’s most beautiful women wear our
jewelry, and these high-profile clients
continue to do so because of our discretion.”
The reasoning as to what makes David
Morris jewelry so spectacular and stand out
from other counterparts is a combination of
inspiration and efforts in sourcing the best and
most precious gem stones. Whether
Colombian emeralds, Burmese rubies or
Kashmiri sapphires, Jeremy notes: “I get most
of my inspiration from the rare stones
themselves. I also gather inspiration from the
experiences gleaned through my extensive
travels around the world, both with my family
and for work.”
28 DJWE Special
Jeremy divides his time between meeting
with various stone suppliers as he keenly
maintains the search for those inspirational
The Doha gems, sketching and laying out new designs
and meeting with clients. With Jeremy’s
Jewellery direction, the brand has successfully
expanded throughout the globe with
and Watches boutiques in Doha, Dubai, Palm Beach,
Moscow, Riga and Riyadh.
Exhibition provides Operating in the Middle-East presents
different tactics and tastes, especially as the
clientele have a high aptitude for luxury
David Morris products. “Our Middle Eastern client is
with a platform to typically very discerning and knowledgeable
so we have to present very special designs to
showcase its rare entice them. There is a strong interest in our
diamond sets of necklaces, earrings and
offerings.
bracelets, in either white or multi-coloured
diamonds. The demand for our exceptionally
rare collection of natural white and Caribbean
pink conch pearls is also consistent.”
The Doha Jewellery and Watches Exhibition
 Qatar

where
Family fortune: The brand’s creative and managing
director, Jeremy Morris, with his father and founder,
Mr. David Morris
style
Star studded: Cheryl Cole
wearing exquisite David Morris
lives.
earrings

Sapphire Necklace:
192 carat natural
sapphire necklace
with 79 carats of
pink and white
diamonds.

Sapphire Earrings:
Burmese sapphire
and white diamond
Emerald necklace: 217
drop earrings with
carat Colombian
total sapphire
cabouchon emerald N Y T I M E S . C O M / T M AG A Z I N E | M O N T H T K 0 0 , 2 0 0 8 139

weight of 117 carats.

necklace with 25 carats
of fine white diamonds

If you want your

preferred customers or
provides David Morris with a platform to already have good representation in Qatar and
showcase its rare offerings. “An exceptional Saudi Arabia, along with our store in Dubai, guests to receive VIP
piece to watch out for is a magnificent
Colombian emerald cabochon necklace,
but we would very much like to expand further
throughout the Middle East and into Southern
copies, join our
containing a total emerald weight of 216.56 and Eastern Asia too. And to that end we’ve “Preferred Destination
carats. They range in size from 5.23 carats to just secured a space in Hong Kong for a
17.99 carats. Each stone is incredibly lustrous September opening!” Program”
and the colours are outstanding in their
intensity and match. The piece also has 24.92 David Morris is available in the Middle-East in
email:
carats of fine quality, GIA-certified white Ali Bin Ali Watches & Jewelry at Royal Plaza tqatar@omsqatar.com
diamonds,” Jeremy highlights. (Doha), and Ali Bin Ali Watches & Jewelry at C
So what else is this family success story Center (Al Riyadh), and at Dubai Mall (Dubai) or call Patricia on
planning on pulling out from its sleeve? “We For more info, www.davidmorris.com +974-44550983
DJWE Special 29