The Kutchinsky business was established in 1893 when Hirsch Kutchinsky arrived in England having fled Poland along with his son Morris and other members of the family.  They brought with them many years of experience in the trade, having served as jewellers to the court of Ludwig of Bavaria, and wasted no time in setting up a jewellery manufacturing company in the East End of London.  

In 1930 Morris was joined by his sons Joseph and Solomon.  Joseph was 16 and gradually worked his way up learning all the different aspects of the business including the importance of fine quality craftsmanship and first class customer service.  He proved to be a natural salesman and the business thrived, moving in 1958 from the Commercial Road premises in the East to the Brompton Road in West London’s Knightsbridge.

Much of the jewellery they made during the late 1940s and 1950s was purposefully ostentatious, an outward celebration of the end of wartime restrictions and a return to the availability of luxury goods.  Brooches, bangles, earrings and rings were all encrusted with diamonds in round, marquise and baguette shapes, scattered with coloured gems or set with bright corals and turquoises.  Whimsical designs of animals and birds have become synonymous with the name Kutchinsky, rendered in 18ct yellow gold and gem-set or coloured with enamel, the firm created a menagerie of characterful creatures over the years.  Joseph’s two sons Roger and Paul joined the business which continued to find favour with a wide range of clients both at home and abroad, particularly in the Middle East. 

The business was sold to Moussaieff Jewellers Ltd in 1991