The priceless Diamond Graff watch that former Pak Prime Minister Imran Khan fell in love with

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The House of Graff stands for the finest, the rarest and only the very best stones. And the best of controversies. All of the credit for this controversy goes to former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, whose love for money outdid the craft Graff puts in in each of its timepieces. Graff makes some of the best watches in the world.


Think about the Graff Diamonds Hallucination. The watch is touted to be the world's most expensive quartz watch. It has 110 fancy diamonds and took 30 specialists about five years to craft it. At $55 million, it was Graff founder and diamond mineowner Laurence Graff's personal project. The project he took upon himself to show the world that his house wasn't to be taken lightly.


title="No Such Thing As Too Many Diamonds: The Graff Diamonds Hallucination Watch" />

No Such Thing As Too Many Diamonds: The Graff Diamonds Hallucination Watch



Till date, the Diamonds Hallucination stays in the possession of Laurence Graff. Such timepieces aren't meant to be sold, after all.


This is a lesson that the disgraced ex-PM of Pakistan also learnt, the diamond-hard way.

A Gift Like No Other

Sometime during Khan's tenure as the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman gave him a gift worthy of being gifted by the Saudis. It was a gift set symbolising the relation between their two countries. The set contained a ring, cufflinks, a pen... and a diamond Graff watch that left Imran Khan with egg on his face, staring at a 14-year jail term as of today.


Toshakhana Graff watch (only ONE in the world) gifted by Crown Prince MBS to the State of Pakistan, which was sold for $2M, will be the reason behind Imran Khan's disqualification. Our Khana Kaba watch was NEVER supposed to be sold for “profit”. Shame on you Imran Dishonest Khan. pic.twitter.com/auqikEHZKz
— Saad Kaiser 🇵🇰 (@TheSaadKaiser) August 3, 2023



What was so special about the watch? The diamond-dotted Graff had a Khana-e-Kaaba watchface. It's a dazzling thing of beauty that you cannot comprehend the price of. The token of goodwill from MBS brought home a lot of badwill for Khan. These were gifts meant for the Pakistan state. Khan, as the guardian of the state, was supposed to guard the gifts that the state received. Khan did not. He sold the watch. You cannot sell a watch that's the only one in the world and not get caught. So, Khan did.

A Saga Of Shame

At the centre of this potboiler of shame is a Dubai-based businessman called Umar Farooq Zahoor.


Zahoor has an affinity for unique timepieces. He is a collector and connoisseur of watches. So, he lapped up the idea of owning a piece as unique as the Khana-e-Kaaba Graff watch. Imran Khan, through his wife Bushra Bibi, struck a deal. Zahoor claimed in a 2023 interview to Geo News that Khan sold the Graff custom set to him via an intermediary named Farah Gogi. Gogi was Bushra's closest friend and companion.


How Imran Khan sold the rare Graff watch to me in Dubai. I reveal in my interview with @SaleemKhanSafi for broadcast on Geo News. Role of Farah Gogi, Shahzad Akbar and the former First Lady explained and why Shahzad Akbar made fake cases on me. pic.twitter.com/aldvnU0WEt
— Umar Farooq Zahoor (@UmarFaroqZahoor) August 1, 2023



For Bushra, the Graff was a watch. A very expensive watch, but just a watch. So, the nuance and the detailing and the uniqueness of the Khana-e-Kaaba timepiece did not quite penetrate Bushra's veil, and the transfer took place in Dubai. Zahoor apparently paid $12 million for the Graff set.

A Man Who Wouldn't Stay Quiet

After the Graff set came into his possession, Zahoor did not sit quiet. He went about town claiming that he was the proud owner of a watch that was the only one in the world.


So, where did it all fall apart for Khan?


To begin with, the watch wasn't his to sell.


Second, it was a watch that was as easily traceable as contrast dye in your MRI. It was the only one in the world.


The Saudis weren't happy. Mohammed Bin Salman was furious to see the Khana-e-Kaaba sold for profit. Saudi Arabia's relation with Pakistan wasn't for sale.


Back in Pakistan, Imran Khan saw his world crumbling as the Toshakhana case grabbed him by the throat.

Tale Of The Toshakhana

 


Pakistan's Toshakhana (Treasury) rules state that government officials can keep state gifts as long as they pay for them. But, the gifts need to be deposited first. The Toshakhana is the department under the Cabinet Division which keeps all state gifts.


Under the rules, Imran Khan was also supposed to have deposited the Graff set, in addition to several other state gifts he received, with the Toshakhana. Khan did not. He did not even keep the gifts. He sold them off, much to the chagrin of the states that gifted the gifts to Khan. MBS was on top of that list. Graff perhaps came a close second, at seeing itself dragged into this saga of ignominy.

The Graff Galaxy

Graff, high jewellery makers since 1962, are famous with just about anyone who's anyone in the world. The house prides itself on showmanship. Their diamonds are arguably the best in the world, straight off the mineowner-founder's knowledge of the stone. Most of its high jewellery collection is priced upwards of $100,000. 


title="The Star of Bombay, acquired by Laurence Graff in 1974" />

The Star of Bombay, acquired by Laurence Graff in 1974



This is the house that once owned The Star of Bombay, one of the most famous Golconda gems. Laurence Graff bought the 47.39-carat stone, 'once set in a Maharaja's regalia', from a European dealer in 1974. Their jewels adorn the wrists and ears and necks of the wealthiest people in the world, and, are then, passed on to auction houses who take the legacy forward. 


This is the galaxy Graff glides in. Imran Khan's stars fell a few millions short.