Chagit Leviev, makes her best version. She tell us some details of her passion for diamonds and what it was like growing up in her family
A few months ago, I watched the documentary and, upon finishing it. I started researching the Leviev family… and I came across Chagit. Born in Israel, she grew up between Israel and Belgium. Ten years ago, she moved to New York, where she runs her father, Lev Leviev’s, companies in the United States, some related to investments, real estate and diamonds. “The special thing about our company is that we are truly integrated and that our operation within the diamond world starts from the mine and ends until delivery to the customer,” she shares. “My father started this business 40 years ago; The name has become very prestigious within the medium, since he broke the diamond monopoly in the world and, since then, the industry has changed,” says Chagit. Today, she thinks, business is done differently.
As the second generation running the business, she has added new horizons. Chagit is a multicultural woman; Having to move several times made her more flexible to changes: “Having been from city to city made me and my brothers independent and strong. When you are a child, this leads you to make new friends and learn new languages; In addition, it opens up new perspectives for you.”
A diamond lineage
Chagit studied economics and business. She always dreamed of being a fashion designer, but growing up in a family surrounded by business took her in another direction.
“Although after I graduated, I didn’t want to start working for my father right away. I wanted to create my own name, and join the family business when I felt more prepared,” she details. When the opportunity presented itself, Chagit joined the company… but it wasn’t easy. “My father raised us in a way in which there was not much explanation of how to do things, we learned from others and by seeing how everything was done. We had to find out on our own,” she explains. It was the same when she arrived in the United States: she herself had to figure out how to grow the company on the American continent.
Chagit, who runs his father’s companies in the United States, really enjoys working in the world of diamonds. She is in contact with clients, striving to make them happy. “We want to always be there for them, in their happiest moments, since that is when they buy diamonds.”
Leviev’s company handles the rarest diamonds in the industry, clients who come to them know what they want, whether they’re looking for one-carat or twenty-carat diamonds. No diamond is the same, each one is special.
She want to expand the company so that everyone can have access to diamonds. She wants to convert her sale into direct sales with clients… “Of course we have our portfolio of clients, which include from members of royalty to the biggest celebrities.”
She always remember was when her parents gave her her first diamond: when she turned 12, at her Bar Mitzvah. “No matter how big her dad is on diamonds, when a girl receives her first diamond, it’s a moment she always remembers. Today I am very happy to be part of other people’s lives, to be able to share their special moment of life.” And she complements by saying that for her, wearing a diamond gives any woman the satisfaction of feeling empowered.
Expertise
If you plan to buy diamonds, she recommends that you must buy from a good reputation sellers. Don’t just buy it for the price. “We try to evaluate all the aspects that the client needs, how much he wants to spend, what he is looking for. There are people who only focus on size, not quality. Our job as jewelers is to explain to the client what is best for them.”
Another tip she gives is that it is very important to see what you are physically buying. This way, you can observe the diamond and its brilliance. “It is important to feel it, put it on before you commit to buying it. Buying a diamond is a very personal thing. Furthermore, they never go out of style and their value only increases over the years if it is well purchased and passed from generation to generation,” he comments, and gives as an example Elizabeth Taylor, who had a whole collection of jewelry, some of which have been sold at auction for thousands and thousands of dollars more than she paid.
She also confesses her predilection in her jewelry: “I don’t have a particular diamond that is my favorite. Emeralds always look elegant and classic. We all have a shape that we like best. It’s all a matter of taste and preferences.”
