Global Family Office Community Journal 2020 - A Brand with a Heart

If there is one artisan brand that has withstood the test of time, it must be the British luxury watch house Backes & Strauss. Based on Grosvenor Street in Mayfair, the company is owned and operated by Chief Executive, Mr Vartkess Knadjian. Today, together with his son and daughter, Mr Knadjian is building the foundations for the next phase of the World’s Oldest Diamond Company.

Masters of Diamonds Since 1789

Much like today’s known luxury brands, from Louis Vuitton to Van Cleef & Arpels, Backes & Strauss started off as a family-run business, founded in 1789 by Goldsmith Georg Carl Backes in Hanau. To understand how the brand has secured and continues to secure brand longevity 231 years later, it is important to look into the brand’s 5 key pillars as well as recognise its understanding of luxury.

History & Heritage

Under the name of Backes & Co., the company started off as a Goldsmith in 1789. Soon enough, Backes & Co. had become one of the largest jewellery manufacturing companies, distributing jewellery throughout Europe. Towards the end of the 19th Century, with the discovery of large diamond mines in Southern Africa, there was soon a need for controlled diamond distributors. Backes & Strauss stepped up to the role and changed their business model becoming diamond cutters and distributors. The company’s archives and daybooks outline the many travels its sales team journeyed, traveling through Europe and many other continents selling loose diamonds to big names such as Mikimoto, Boodles, Garrard & Co. and even Jacques Cartier himself.

Vartkess Knadjian

Vartkess was born into an Ethiopian-Armenian family. His father’s family emigrated to Ethiopia from the Ottoman Empire at the turn of the century. Vartkess’ father, Antranig Knadjian, graduated from the Ecole d’Horlogerie of Geneva, followed by an internship at Vacheron Constantin. Years later, he returned to Ethiopia as a Maître d’Horloger, and was appointed as the Royal Watchmaker to Emperor Haile Selassie. He was exclusive agent for a number of high end Swiss watch Brands like Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin and Omega.

Vartkess was sent to school in England from the age of 12. After he graduated from the London School of Economics, unable to go back to Ethiopia because of the political difficulties he joined Backes & Strauss as a trainee diamond buyer.

Diamonds

When Vartkess joined Backes & Strauss in 1976, he was sent to Antwerp in Belgium. In those days, the only way to learn about diamonds and the market, was by sitting and observing the masters at work. Vartkess was very lucky to have had a number of prominent gures in the diamond industry as his mentors, one of whom was the cousin of Marcel Tolkowsky, the inventor of the Ideal Cut diamond, the industry benchmark for cut perfection.

Towards the end of the last Millennium, De Beers as the leading player in the diamond market encouraged the diamond cutters to go down the value chain and add value to their production. This encouraged Vartkess to lead a management buy-out of Backes & Strauss and leverage on the heritage of the company to launch a high-end brand in partnership with Franck Muller.

Franck Muller

Backes & Straus were supplying diamonds to Franck Muller - a disruptive force amongst Swiss watch manufacturers. Known as the Master of Complications for his creativity in adding complications to wrist watches and for his bold designs, Franck Muller created a fresh renaissance in Swiss watches.

London

As Backes & Strauss had been in London continuously since 1814 it was decided to give the brand a London provenance. The inspiration of John Nash, the architectural genius of the Regency Periods can be seen in the main collections - the Regent, Piccadilly and the Berkeley.

In 2012, with the approval of HM Queen Elizabeth, the Diamond Jubilee collection- a series of 60 timepieces celebrating 60 years of HM/s reign was released. HRH Prince Michael of Kent, has been the Royal Brand Ambassador for the Brand since 2018.

Understanding Luxury

This Royal connection harks back to the era when Kings and Queens would commission the best craftsmen to create most original creations.

Today, together with his son and daughter, Vartkess enters a new chapter where he goes back to the origins of Backes & Strauss as a family business specialising in both watchmaking and diamonds. In order to secure and guarantee the longevity of a brand, one must evolve and adapt to the times and base its business decisions to the demands of the market all the while maintaining a beating heart at its source.

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