More than 30 years ago, my father inspired me to become a diamond dealer. With his foresight and fortitude he was living proof that a diamond always makes a winner.

When I was 17 years old, I had no idea that a diamond could be considered an investment or even a form of financial insurance. But one day my father, Axel Pitzner, who was a respected – and feared – businessman, asked me: “Would you like to see something very precious?”

He seemed so serious that I didn’t dare do anything but nod. From his safety vault, which was hidden behind a painting in his home office, he took out a case with a 5.1-carat diamond set in a ring.

“Who’s it for?” I asked. “Nobody,” he answered. “This is my life insurance. If everything goes wrong then I’ll still have this.” Luckily, things worked out quite well for my father. He had a broad investment portfolio that included both property and stocks. His mixed bag of business ventures extended into farm machinery and scaffolding – he even owned a car rental company. One of his great passions was jewelry and fine watches. And when as a long-standing loyal customer he was offered the opportunity to purchase Copenhagen’s exclusive Rolex dealer, the Klarlund jewelry store, he jumped right in.

More than 30 years have now passed since my father showed me his 5.1-carat River D internally flawless investment diamond, which would now retail for a price of close to two million US dollars! Since he bought the diamond its value has increased more than 650 percent – completely tax-free!

Back then, I had no idea that diamonds would one day become my future. But inspired by my father’s foresight and fortitude my job as an international diamond dealer is to help investors secure their family fortunes.