Vartkess Knadjian is the Chief Executive Officer of Backes & Strauss, the world’s oldest diamond company established in 1789, in London. Under his leadership over the past 42 years, Backes & Strauss has been transformed from a small diamond procurement office into one of the world’s finest Jewelled Timepiece Creators, where highest specification diamonds meet with time in its most precise form.

Born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 1955, Knadjian was fully immersed into the art of watchmaking at a young age. His father was a Maître Horloger from the Geneva Watchmaking School, appointed as the official watchmaker to the Ethiopian Emperor, Haile Selassie, for almost three decades. In his early childhood, Knadjian relocated to the UK to attend Kingswood School, Bath. He subsequently went on to pursue further studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), where he graduated with a BSc. (Econ) honours degree in 1976.

In that same year, Knadjian joined Backes & Strauss, then based in Antwerp, Belgium. A mere six years later, he was appointed as Head of the Antwerp office.

In July 2001 Knadjian  became the Group Managing Director and went on to successfully lead a management buyout in 2003. Knadjian has concentrated his efforts on combining his passion for exquisite diamonds with exceptional watchmaking, creating a luxury product that leverages on the history, tradition and savoir faire of Backes & Strauss.

In November 2006, Backes & Strauss joined forces with the Franck Muller Group to launch the Backes & Strauss collection of luxury diamond watches. The bejewelled masterpieces, inspired by designs from the company’s Regency era archives, are crafted exclusively at the Franck Muller Watchland workshops in Switzerland.