Christopher Gregory’s desk appears strewn with stardust. Gently pressing his index finger into the mix, he turns up a fingertip of the tiniest diamonds, from 1.050mm to 1.074mm, each improbably cut into 58 facets by Indian diamond cutters. Wearing a sharp blue suit and wielding an even sharper loupe, he sets aside a pile of perfect matches for a ‘halo’ that will support a diva diamond.

A couple of metres away is the desk of Christopher’s brother, Lahdo Gregory. His workbench is dotted with snippets of gold being sized up for a ring repair. Next to his coffee mug, there’s a sketch that feels like a flash of inspiration—a pendant featuring plump, creamy pearls.

Today, the portfolio comprises 13 Gregory Jewellers boutiques, five Pandora shops, two TAG Heuer boutiques and a Breitling Watch Boutique. The TAG Heuer and Breitling franchises are the first outside both of those brands’ own stores in Australia. The current focus is on the expansion of Gregory Jewellers into Victoria, with a newly opened boutique in Doncaster becoming the third of its kind. The Gregory enterprise has been influential in nurturing the luxury watch market in Australia. Its windows glisten with some of the world’s most sought-after timepieces – from IWC, Panerai, Breitling, TAG Heuer, Tudor, Zenith, Longines, Rado, Oris, and Tissot.

Says Robert: “We were on the crest of a new fascination with watches as jewellery. Initially the reaction to a TAG Heuer watch in our Parramatta boutique tended to be: ‘$4,500 to tell the time?! You’re kidding!’ “Luxury brands had very little presence then, in 1995. We realised we had to educate the public to understand that a watch was not just a timepiece. By 2010 we were partnering with Breitling, Cartier, Jaegar-LeCoultre, IWC. Today, people will pay $40,000 for a watch without blinking. In the past 15-20 years, Australian consumers have emerged into luxury and an appreciation of premium brands.”

Innovations have included the patented Tycoon Cut, reimagined as the eight-sided Tycoon 8, breathtaking in its sparkle and fire. The Tycoon Cut features in a collection of coloured gemstones set in 18-carat gold with brilliant-cut white diamonds. Green amethyst, smoky quartz, purple amethyst and blue topaz in white gold, citrine in yellow gold and pink tourmaline in rose gold. What to choose?

Despite new boutiques, new cuts and new workshop, gemstones are the Gregory raison d’etre. Robert, a gemmologist, has a soft spot for tanzanite, with its purplish-blue hue, and for under-the-radar chameleon diamonds. “Coloured diamonds account for less than one per cent of all diamonds,” he says. “Chameleon diamonds are 0.1 per cent of that one per cent. So they are among the rarest diamonds: they change colour depending on light and heat, from yellowish green to an intense pea-green.” A favourite of Suellen Gregory is the Colombian emerald. “I’m drawn to that blueish-green hue,” she says. “And not just because it is my birthstone. There is something about that colour that I love. It’s unique.”