Harry Winston and the Time æon Foundation are pleased to announce an international competition that will support up-and-coming independent watchmakers and help make their creative ideas a timepiece reality.

With this new competition, Harry Winston and the Time æon Foundation will identify a promising independent watchmaker and provide him or her with the necessary resources- training, financing and tools - to develop, produce and market a small series of Harry Winston watches.

“Harry Winston has a longstanding tradition of timepiece innovation, and working with independent watchmakers on ground-breaking horology. Many of these worldrenowned talents have collaborated with Harry Winston on The Opus Project, which celebrates the traditions of watch-making and the production of rare, technologically advanced timepieces. With this new partnership, we extend this spirit of collaboration and innovation to the next generation of watchmakers. We are proud to support and nurture new talents in this exciting field,” said Thomas J. O’Neill, Chief Executive Officer of Harry Winston.

«The Time æon Foundation has an enormous wealth of knowledge and know how in the arts and crafts of fine watch-making,» stated Martial Fragnière, President of the Time æon Foundation. «Both Harry Winston and the Time æon Foundation are committed to safeguarding their precious experience and skills by passing them on to a new generation of talented watchmakers.”

Further details of the competition will be announced in June 2008. The watchmaker and his or her project, selected by an international jury, will be announced at Baselworld 2009.

About Harry Winston

Harry Winston Diamond Corporation (NYSE: HWD; TSX: HW) is a specialist diamond enterprise with assets in the mining and retail segments of the diamond industry. The company supplies rough diamonds to the global market from its 40% interest in the Diavik Diamond Mine, located in Canada’s Northwest Territories. The company’s retail division, Harry Winston Inc., is a premier jewelry and timepiece retailer with salons in key locations including New York, Paris, London, Beijing, Tokyo and Beverly Hills. For more information, please go to www.harrywinston.com or for investor information, visit investor.harrywinston.com.

About the TIME AEON FOUNDATION

The Time Aeon Foundation is a not-for-profit organization founded in Switzerland in 2008. The Foundation’s aim is to support, promote, and safeguard the art and craft of fine watchmaking. A vital role of the Time Aeon Foundation is to aid and encourage the next generation of Independent Master Watchmakers. For more information, please go to www.timeaeon.com.