About Charles

Fourth generation jeweler Charles Winston has a deep appreciation of beautiful jewelry resulting from his rich jewelry heritage. At the age of 17, his father, Jerry Winston brought Charles into the family business. Growing up in the jewelry industry, Charles has worked in various capacities to make his own distinctive mark!

Charles joined the family business in the early 70’s. He worked in many different departments and learned the jewelry business from the bottom up. He learned everything, from grading and sorting diamonds for quality and color, as well as the production of one-of-a-kind, handmade jewelry. He learned from his father that perfection does not happen by accident, rather from the application of knowledge of product, expertise and a passion for your work.

Eventually Charles was promoted to work in a department that designed and fabricated some of the most expensive jewelry in the world. Charles developed a keen eye for quality and style. One of the first pieces Charles helped create was a necklace that held a 75.52-carat D-flawless pear-shape diamond. That stone was the “Star of Independence.” Cut by his family to commemorate the 200^th anniversary of the USA’s independence. It sold in the summer of 1976 for over $7,000,000.00 USD.

Charles once remarked, “I would think about how nice it would be if everyone could afford to wear elegant fine jewelry without the associated high price of diamonds.” A few years later, he formed his jewelry manufacturing company, Charles J. Winston, Inc., gaining valuable experience and strengthening his appreciation for quality jewelry.

While working in various capacities in the jewelry industry, Charles began to notice the number of companies that were emulating the classic fine jewelry looks, but in a lesser quality. He began asking himself; what it would take for everyone to enjoy beautiful classic looks, without forfeiting the quality that he so much admired. Then viola, he solved the problem! He began working with top grade simulants and synthetic stones, set in nickel-free sterling silver, gold or other alternative metals.

Charles Winston began creating his fabulous jewelry utilizing the production skills and expertise with his first collection developed in 1981. His first collection was his diamond collection. “Diamonds are in my blood” Mr. Winston remarked during an interview on ‘The Morning Show,’ a popular morning television show.

In the early 1990’s Charles added to his collection a line of jewelry that incorporated cubic zirconia (CZ) and lab-created (synthetic) gemstones. Charles Winston once said during an interview, “I created this collection of CZ jewelry to bring out the ‘celebrity’ in the woman wearing it.” That was the birth of his tagline, “Jewelry for the Celebrity in You.” Eventually, in 2010 Charles started creating a third collection made with created Moissanite.

Charles Winston held tight to the methods handed down for over the generations of how to manufacture fine jewelry. The result, ‘Affordable fine jewelry.’ Jewelry which is produced in a manner that is not going to negatively impact the environment, that is well made and everyone will be proud to own and wear.

Charles is a regularly featured guest on television shopping networks worldwide. His jewelry is worn regularly on television shows, such as Days of Our Lives, where Charles was scripted into a show. He played the part of himself, “Charles Winston, a fabulous jewelry designer…” Charles does what he loves most, creating fabulous jewelry that will impress and amaze you!