Leibish the Man
Leibish the ManBack in 1979, Leibish Polnauer discovered the world of diamond selling in the most surprising of ways. He had recently found out that he was out of a job after the polishing factory that he was working was no longer in operation. While reading The Guardian on his way to London, he saw an interesting ad from royal crown jeweler Garrard & Co that quickly caught his attention.
In the ad, Garrard & Co was searching for a certain rare diamond. Leibish, who at then was a daring and resourceful young man, opted to give the company a call to see if there was any opportunity in it for him. He talked to the general manager and vowed to give him that specific stone that he was looking for along with the numerous others that he wanted.
Leaving no stone unturned, Leibish searched the market across three different continents and upon his return, brought home all the stones Garrard was searching for.
At that moment, Leibish knew that he was in the diamond business for life and there and then the legend started.
LEIBISH & CO IS BORN
30 years after that momentous day, when people hear the word Leibish & Co in the world of Fancy Color Diamonds, it would automatically mean quality and brilliance.
The company has regularly been one of the biggest purchasers at the annual prestigious Argyle tender. Moreover, Leibish Jewelry has been a major provided to a lot of today’s biggest high-end jewelers, including names like Graff.
In the early 1990’s, the company became one of the pioneers in the world of online diamond selling. In fact, they were the only authentic wholesaler/dealer who directly sold diamonds over the Internet during the time.
Eventually, Leibish’s very own children took part in the company. Yossi is the acting CEO while Shmulik is the Chief Diamond Buyer. Itzik is the online guru while Chavi handles jewelry design. The youngest, Yoni, is now part of the company as well.
THE EXPERIENCE
I have been in the industry for quite a while now that’s why I was already aware that Leibish is the go-to place for Fancy Loose Colored Diamonds. With that being said, Leibish reviews which I have allocated purely on their jewelry.
In terms of fancy colors, jewelry-quality plays just as important of a role as the diamond itself. A badly crafted fancy color diamond can lose a great amount of color intensity just as an exceptionally crafted colored stone can be especially enhanced.
I tried to reach them out pretending to be an average customer. I managed to converse with Mali through the phone. Mali was unbelievably calm and composed and addressed every single one of my test questions with great accuracy in a way that expressed more of a desire to educate and inform me rather than sell me a diamond.
Impressed with Mali, I went and ordered two pre-set rings.
My first order was a 1.20ct fancy intense yellow cushion cut set in a half-carat pave halo.
In my second order, I opted to put Leibish’s current move into gemstones in the spotlight. So I bought a 0.65ct round green emerald set in a double yellow-white halo.
THE RESULTS
The Packaging
I was amazed when my order arrived in the exact time that was agreed upon.
Outside of Box
Aside from James Allen, there is no other vendor out there that offers a carefully thought-out and beautiful packaging as Leibish’s does.
Box Contents
Once you remove the FedEx covering, you are instantly greeted with a gorgeous outer brown box. Taking out its lid, you will see your Jewelry box fixed nicely into a cradle with the ring and its documentation arranged neatly in the right inside in a separately designed cradle. In its documentation, you will see the diamond’s certificate, invoice, a few information about Leibish & Co, and an appraisal for insurance reasons.
The Fancy Yellow Diamond Ring
I ordered a yellow diamond engagement ring, possessed a total carat weight of 1.69ct. The center diamond weighs 1.20ct and it is graded Fancy Intense Yellow by GIA.
The clarity grade is VS1 with no fluorescence. Fluorescence is typically an unwanted feature in colorless diamonds but when it comes to Fancy Yellow diamonds it would be alright so long as it does not negatively impact the aesthetic quality of the stone.
Just as I shared with you at the start, the jewelry department at Leibish is genuine masters and artisans when it comes to crafting fancy color diamonds.
The moment I opened the ring box, an intense yellow tone erupted in the ring’s center stone. Its white halo (made of D-E-F color ideal cut stones) offered a powerful contrast to highlight the color even more.
The Round Emerald Double Halo
The other ring that I ordered came with a 0.65ct Zambian round green emerald as its center stone. The center stone is enclosed by a pair of distinct halos.
The innermost halo is a ring of lovely intense yellow pave stones (crafted in yellow or rose gold to provide optimum color intensity).
The bigger halo is composed of colorless ideal cut diamonds of the highest color and cut quality (clarity offers little significance when it comes to paving stones).
THE VALUE?
If you wish to purchase fancy color diamonds online, the available options are quite a few. Certainly, there are additional vendors that offer FCD online aside from Leibish & James Allen.
However, as we stressed in many other avenues (most particularly in our article about diamond clarity), it is often necessary to have a detailed image of a diamond for you to review before you buy it.
When it comes to colorless diamonds, it’s crucial to inspect their shape (in the case of fancy shapes) and clarity (particularly in VS1 and below grades) and it’s always the case regarding fancy color diamonds.
In every fancy color grade, there can be an extensive array of color strengths. Moreover, it’s typical to witness stones that have especially “lucky” or “harsh” grades.
With that being said, your choices are restricted to James Allen & Leibish.
If you have been following our site for quite some time now, you will notice that we are a true believer in James Allen. In terms of Fancy Colors, however, we favor Leibish a little because of two reasons.
First, while James Allen lists diamonds, Leibish is the actual owner of all the fancy colored diamonds they sell. Typically, online vendors who are the actual owners of their diamond products tend to provide higher prices for their products to counterbalance their high inventory costs.
However, Leibish is the exception to this rule. They are more related to James Allen’s suppliers than their competitors.
Finally, Leibis’s experience and mastery in the world of Fancy Colors is simply without equal. This is not just vital when it comes to ensuring you opt with a fine stone – its crucial in terms of setting a fancy color diamond well to bring out the best of the colored stone.
