David & Sohn

For a newcomer to Zürich who wants to understand a diamond before buying one, David & Sohn is worth a look before you start comparing showrooms on Bahnhofstrasse. It's a family firm built around loose stones and expertise rather than a display case of finished rings, which suits a buyer who wants to learn what they're paying for first.

What it is

David & Sohn has traded in Zürich since 1917 and is now run by the fourth generation of the same family. The company's own history page names the founder, Leo David (1870-1949), a Paris-born jeweller who built the business around loose diamonds and natural pearls. His son Pierre David (1903-1993) travelled to Japan to source Akoya pearls and pushed the firm into antique jewellery and diamonds. Pierre's son Jean-Pierre David (1944-2006) specialised in diamonds, was among the first in the trade to use a microscope to judge a stone's value, and traded frequently in New York. The two brothers who run the firm today, Patrick and Marc David, trained at a pearl company in Lausanne and at the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) before working at Roy Herzl, Inc. in New York. That New York connection still shows up in the firm's structure: alongside David & Sohn AG in Zürich, the site names a sister company, Herzl & Son Inc., also in New York. For an expat reader who splits time between Switzerland and the US, that's a useful thing to know, a business with more than one office rather than a single local counter. Zürich's commercial register lists the company as active, entered in 1921, with 2 people in management, consistent with the two brothers running it day to day.

What you get

The site itself reads as an education-first resource rather than a showroom. Its diamonds page walks through the GIA's four Cs: colour graded from D (colourless) down to Z, clarity judged against a 10x magnification standard (a stone only counts as flawless if no inclusions show at that power), a cut scale running 5 grades from excellent to poor, and carat weight, with the precise reminder that one carat equals 0.2 grams. It also reaches for one of the trade's standard reference points, the Cullinan diamond, found as a 3,106.70 carat rough stone before being cut into 105 separate finished diamonds. None of that is filler. It's the kind of grounding a buyer needs before sitting down with a dealer and being shown several stones that all look similar on paper. What the site does not do is show finished engagement rings, list prices, or spell out a ring-mounting service as a line item. If you're picturing a browsable case of set rings, this isn't that kind of site, and it's worth calling ahead to confirm what mounting or setting work they'll take on around a chosen stone before you turn up expecting a finished ring off a shelf.

What stands out

The manufactory page is where the firm talks about its own craft rather than general GIA theory, describing gemologists and cutters working to bring out what it calls the character in each stone, alongside appraisal, certification and diamond sourcing. The buying side runs in both directions: David & Sohn also buys diamonds and jewellery from private sellers and other dealers, useful to know if you arrive in Zürich with an inherited piece and want an independent read on it rather than only a sales pitch on the way out. The firm's own language leans on discretion and personal consultation, and the appointment-only feel of the site backs that up. There's a prompt to get in touch rather than a shopping cart, and buying here reads more like a conversation with the family than a transaction at a counter.

How it's organised

Contact is straightforward for an international buyer. The Zürich office sits at Beethovenstrasse 9, 8002 Zürich, reachable on +41 44 201 05 30 or by email, and the site runs fully in both German and English, which matters if German isn't your working language yet. Beyond that, though, the site is thin on the practical detail a newcomer usually needs most. There's no published price list, no stated turnaround for a bespoke commission, no resizing or after-sales policy on view, and nothing about VAT refunds or shipping a piece abroad if you leave Switzerland once a posting ends. None of that means the firm doesn't offer these things. It means you should ask before you commit rather than assume, and treat whatever you're quoted on the phone as the real figure rather than anything printed here.

How it compares

Against a Bahnhofstrasse maison with a window full of finished settings, David & Sohn reads as the more technical, appointment-driven end of the market, a business that wants to teach you the four Cs before it shows you a stone. It carries more institutional weight in the diamond trade than storefront presence, given a family history that runs back over a century and a sister office in New York. That makes it a stronger fit for a buyer who already has, or wants to build, some fluency in what they're paying for, and a weaker fit for someone who wants to walk in and walk out with a ring on the same afternoon.

Who it suits

Expats and international buyers who want a loose stone chosen on its own merits and set afterward, and who don't mind a phone call or an email to get things started, are the natural audience here. It also suits anyone who wants a second, independent opinion on a diamond, whether they're buying, selling, or trying to work out what they've inherited. It's a weaker fit if you want to compare finished rings side by side in a showroom, or if you need firm pricing and a delivery date confirmed in writing before you'll consider a visit at all.

The verdict

Four generations trading in the same trade since 1917, entered in Zürich's commercial register in 1921, with a genuine international footprint through Herzl & Son Inc. in New York, is a real and unusual pedigree in a city with plenty of newer names on the same street. The site's focus on diamond education over ring photography reads as a deliberate choice that rewards a buyer willing to call ahead, not a gap to be suspicious of. Confirm ring-mounting, pricing and timelines directly with the firm before you send anyone expecting a finished piece off a shelf, and this is a dealer worth that one phone call.