77 Diamonds: The modern version of Tiffany?

Unlike stores on the high street, 77 Diamonds are giving people direct access to the global diamond market, Tobias Kormind tells Heather Martin

A 77 Diamonds ring: ‘These are gifts from nature’ (77 Diamonds)

What happens when your little sister marries into a family of diamond cutters? Your best friend gets engaged and asks you to source the diamond. Then another friend comes calling, then a friend of a friend. Word gets out: there’s a diamond connection.

This is the story of Tobias Kormind, Danish co-founder of Mayfair’s 77 Diamonds, so named for 1477, the year in which Archduke Maximilian proposed to Mary of Burgundy with what is reputed to be the very first diamond engagement ring.

Naturally, Kormind fell in love too – “Head over heels” – with diamonds. Passion thrills through his voice as he speaks. “We’re talking primordial,” he says, “so when the earth was still being formed, three billion years ago. Which is why it’s so crazy. These are gifts from nature. You get hooked, watching people react to seeing them glisten in their hands.”