【Milan, Italy】Alberto Repossi, the Jeweler of Princesses: ‘Grace Kelly Wrote Splendid Letters. Diana? She Chose the Ring Herself’

Lady Diana and Grace Kelly, two of Alberto Repossi’s ‘clients’
Milan, November 30, 2023 – A life dedicated to them, the princesses of the world. Alberto Repossi, Piedmontese by origin and Monegasque by adoption, is the jeweler who has ‘served’ the crowned heads of the entire planet, from Caroline of Monaco to Rania of Jordan, from Grace Kelly to Lady Diana, from Empress Masako of Japan to Charlene of Monaco, to Sheikha Mozah of Qatar, to Callas, to the princesses of the Gulf, and to all the most beloved and titled women on Earth.
Alberto Repossi with Caroline of Monaco
Famous for Lady Diana’s ring, the one the princess chose with Dodi Al Fayed in the last carefree summer before the tragedy of 1997, Alberto Repossi has a life intertwined with that of royals and stars. For the Maison Repossi, founded by his great-grandfather in Turin, he has been a supplier to the Princes of Monaco for decades, having frequented them in the time of Rainier and Grace and now with the new generation of Grimaldi. In fact, he designed the fabulous teardrop diamond ring chosen by Prince Albert for his engagement to Charlene. Likewise, necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and brooches created for all the women of international nobility bear his signature. In short, an artist of jewels at the service of Her Majesty.

The first boutique of Alberto Repossi
His adventure began in the 1970s, crossed the euphoria of luxury in the 1980s and 1990s, and arrived in the 2000s, intertwining business history, affairs, and glamour, art and history. ‘At the beginning of the 20th century, my grandfather opened his first high jewelry factory in Piedmont, where in the 1950s his son Costantino inaugurated the first store in Turin. Then in 1978 I opened a jewelry store in the Principality of Monaco, and in 1986 a second boutique in Paris, Place Vendôme,’ recounts this gentleman of another era, who in 1994 obtained the prestigious title of ‘Official Supplier of H.S.H. Prince Rainier III of Monaco’ and who has now also written a book (‘The Jeweler of Princesses’) in which he tells his divine stories.

‘My adventure, which lasted a lifetime, began as an ‘outsider,’ and this term is to be taken literally because I was kicked out of the classroom and failed at the end of the year. A ‘blessing’ of failure that allowed me to launch into the world of work,’ admits Alberto Repossi, who as a curious young man learned his father’s trade and made it his fortune.
‘That failure allowed me to enter the family goldsmith workshop, work with jewels, and travel the world. Of course, my fortune was also the right encounters, those with the most fascinating, beautiful, and charismatic women of our time. Women of blue blood or high bourgeoisie, but all endowed with a common denominator, strong personality. They made me what I became. And of each of them, I will always carry a memory in my heart,’ recounts the jeweler who kept the secret of the engagement between Lady Diana and Dodi Al-Fayed and who, after their death, ended up in the media meat grinder and was put under pressure by Scotland Yard.

‘I still remember those hours of interrogation with the number one of Scotland Yard and the translator because I answered in French. At a certain point, I understood that to get out of that tangle of pressure, I would have done better to change my version. But that was not my intention, and I remained faithful to the confidentiality pact I had made with Dodi and Lady D.’
‘What I remember most about Diana? That she chose the engagement ring directly from the window, without even entering the jewelry store. When she arrived in front of the window of our boutique in Monaco, she immediately pointed to a ring that had caught her attention, the one from the ‘Dis-moi oui’ (Say Yes) collection. Then they called me to set an appointment in St. Tropez to finalize the choice and the ring size. I arrived with other examples of precious and important settings that I thought were more suitable for a woman like her. But she stopped me immediately and said ‘this one is fine,’ confirming the choice made in Monaco. That day she was particularly beautiful and seemed serene, although not radiant. The most excited was Dodi, even more excited than me, who was standing before the most pursued and admired woman in the world. During that meeting, Diana told me she wanted to entrust me with a series of old bijoux to renovate: bracelets, necklaces that the princess wanted to remount in a more modern way. We had made an appointment to see each other again in September. But fate unfortunately decided otherwise.’

‘Of Grace Kelly, I still keep her beautiful letters with which she thanked me. On letterhead of the Presidency of the Monegasque Red Cross, Grace always wrote me words of great attention. Of her, I remember her kindness and her availability.’

In the 1990s, the Maison Repossi, among its main Lebanese clients, counted the Hariri Rafiq family and his second wife Nazik, a noblewoman who lived surrounded by bodyguards in villas and palaces between Beirut and Paris, flying on private jets and collecting jewels. ‘She was another muse for my creations. But unlike what happened with other client-muses, the stones for her had to be mounted immediately.’