FROM five boutiques to 19 in just five years, Harry Winston is definitely on an expansion drive.

The iconic American jeweller rolls into town next month, with a flagship salon opening at Ion Orchard.

About time too, considering that Asia has been a principal market for Harry Winston for many years, notes the brand's CEO, Thomas J O'Neill. In fact, half of its 19 boutiques are located in Asia.

'The region continues to be a fundamental part of the brand's universal appeal in terms of both client base and design inspiration,' he says in an email interview.

But it's not just about growing its market, Mr O'Neill seems to imply. 'The new salon in Singapore is as much about a convenience for our existing clients, as it is about opening our doors to new clients,' he notes.

That's because its customer base is international and Harry Winston has had a core of very loyal clients in Singapore and other countries in South-east Asia for many years now.

Even those who aren't familiar with the ins and outs of the diamond trade, would be familiar with Marilyn Monroe's famous rendition of the song Diamonds are a girl's best friend which mentions Harry Winston in the same breath.

The beginnings of the jewellery brand dates back to the early 1900s in Los Angeles, where Harry Winston's father was a small time jeweller from New York.

Winston had famously bought a green stone at a pawnshop when he was just 12 years old, for US$25, which his father sold for US$800 after discovering that it was a genuine two-carat emerald.

Winston later went to New York in 1920 to take advantage of the tons of European estate jewellery coming into the American market - post-World War I - and made his name acquiring valuable estate jewellery. He also made a name acquiring single large gemstones like the Hope and Star of Sierra Leone diamonds - as his focus was always on the stone.

Although it's a quintessentially American jewellery marque, the brand's design DNA was in fact put in place by an Indian designer Ambaji Shinde, who from the 1960s to the 1990s, was the one who translated Winston's ideas with clarity. The King of gems had his well-known diamonds 'float' in near invisible settings.

A trail blazer, Harry Winston was also the first jeweller to loan diamonds to an actress for the Academy Awards, in 1943 - establishing a marketing strategy that's much copied in many permutations today.

So where does the haute joaillier stand in this retail market now, with the global turbulence?

'Across all markets, established and new, we are seeing a trend towards more carefully considered luxury, with consumers more focused on lasting luxury, bespoke details, and unique creations,' says Mr O'Neill.

Ultimately, the true luxury business is a very personalised one, he notes. 'There are plenty of retailers and designer who simply sell jewellery or gemstones. The key differentiation for Harry Winston is in the legitimacy of our gemstones, and the uniqueness of our designs, wrapped in a highly-personalised and compelling shopping experience,' he pitches.

What can potential clients or simply jewellery lovers expect to see in the new salon here? Harry Winston will be bringing a collection of rare jewels known as 'The Incredibles' to Singapore this year.

'These include designs adapted from (former chief designer) Shinde's archival drawings. The one-of-a-kind pieces will travel here in celebration of the new salon opening,' says Mr O'Neill.

This article was first published in The Business Times