Leibish & Co.

Leibish & Co. is an Israeli diamond and jewelry business specializing in natural fancy-color diamonds, colored gemstones, and jewelry made with those materials. The company was founded in 1979 by Leibish Polnauer, who entered the trade after working as a diamond polisher. When the polishing factory employing him closed, Polnauer began trading diamonds independently, initially operating within the specialized diamond-trading environment associated with Israel’s diamond industry. The company’s early development was shaped by an emphasis on colored diamonds, a comparatively specialized part of the market at the time. One early transaction described in a 2017 profile involved sourcing pear-shaped brown diamonds for the British jeweler Garrard & Co. This type of activity helped establish the company’s role not simply as a retailer, but also as a dealer and intermediary dealing in unusual colors, shapes, and qualities of diamond. Over time, Leibish & Co. became particularly associated with the acquisition, recutting, and sale of natural colored diamonds, including stones connected with Australia’s Argyle diamond mine. Leibish & Co. expanded from trading into direct-to-consumer retail and jewelry production. In 1995, it established FancyDiamonds.net, using the Internet to market diamonds directly to customers. The move was notable because high-value diamonds were traditionally sold through specialist trade networks and physical stores. The company’s online approach allowed it to present loose colored diamonds and finished jewelry to an international customer base while retaining a specialist positioning centered on rarity, color, provenance, and gemological characteristics. The company’s principal operations are based in Ramat Gan, the Israeli city associated with the Israel Diamond Exchange. A 2017 account also reported offices in New York and Hong Kong, reflecting the business’s international commercial orientation. Its activities have included sourcing and trading loose diamonds, offering colored gemstones, creating jewelry, and participating in invitation-only industry tenders. Fancy-color diamonds form the strongest part of the company’s public identity. Leibish & Co. has participated in Rio Tinto’s Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender, an invitation-based sale of selected pink, red, and violet diamonds from the Argyle mine in Western Australia. The company reported successful purchases at multiple tenders and sometimes planned to recut acquired stones in an effort to improve their color appearance or grading potential. Its tender activity illustrates the company’s strategy of competing for scarce, high-value stones rather than focusing only on standardized commercial diamonds. The business has also used notable individual stones to support its market profile. In 2014, it presented the Purple Orchid, a 3.37-carat fancy intense pinkish-purple diamond with VS2 clarity. The stone had been cut from rough weighing more than four carats and was shown at the Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Fair with an asking price of US$4 million. The company later broadened its colored-gemstone and jewelry activities. In 2016, it released a collection made in cooperation with Gemfields, using emeralds from the Kagem mine in Zambia. Leibish & Co. therefore occupies a specialist position between diamond dealer, online luxury retailer, and jewelry producer. Its differentiation rests on natural fancy-color diamonds, access to rare tender stones, diamond recutting, colored gemstones, and digital presentation of high-value inventory. Publicly available reference material does not establish a stock-market listing, parent corporation, current executive roster, or a precise current geographic footprint beyond the company’s Israeli base and reported international offices.

Leibish & Co. was established in 1979 by Leibish Polnauer in Israel. Polnauer had trained and worked as a diamond polisher. After the polishing factory where he worked closed, he began trading diamonds independently. The company’s early business was therefore rooted in the diamond trade rather than in branded jewelry retail. An account published in 2017 described one early transaction in which Polnauer sourced a group of pear-shaped brown diamonds for Garrard & Co., the British jeweler. Polnauer subsequently concentrated on colored diamonds. At the time, fancy-color diamonds represented a narrower and more specialized segment of the diamond market than conventional colorless goods. The company developed expertise in sourcing stones whose value depended heavily on hue, saturation, clarity, cut, size, and rarity. Its later activities included trading and recutting natural colored diamonds, with particular attention to stones from the Argyle mine in Western Australia. A major commercial transition occurred in 1995, when the company established FancyDiamonds.net. The site enabled Leibish & Co. to market diamonds directly over the Internet, at a time when online sales of expensive gemstones were still unusual. The online model broadened the company’s access to international buyers and complemented its specialist trading activities. Leibish & Co. later extended its business into finished jewelry, incorporating colored diamonds and other gemstones into rings, necklaces, earrings, and related pieces. The company’s main base is in Ramat Gan, where the Israel Diamond Exchange is located. A 2017 report also identified offices in New York and Hong Kong. These locations reflected the company’s connections with major jewelry and diamond markets outside Israel, although detailed current information about its office network is not established in the supplied reference material. Leibish & Co. became a recurring participant in Rio Tinto’s Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender, an invitation-only sale of selected diamonds from the Argyle mine. At the 2013 tender it bought seven of the 64 stones offered and indicated that two would be recut to seek improved color grades. In 2015, it worked with Kunming Trading Co. to acquire 26 of the 65 diamonds offered. At the 2016 tender, the company bought a 0.71-carat emerald-cut fancy intense pink diamond described as internally flawless by the Gemological Institute of America. Rio Tinto said that the stone was the first internally flawless diamond offered at the tender in more than 20 years and one of only three such stones offered there up to that time. The company also used individual exceptional stones and public jewelry events to promote its expertise. In 2014, it presented the Purple Orchid, a 3.37-carat fancy intense pinkish-purple diamond with VS2 clarity. The stone was cut from rough weighing more than four carats and was displayed at the Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Fair with an asking price of US$4 million. During the mid-2010s, Leibish & Co. broadened its gemstone proposition beyond diamonds. In 2016 it introduced a jewelry collection made in cooperation with Gemfields, using emeralds from the Kagem mine in Zambia. This development linked the company’s colored-diamond specialization with a wider colored-gemstone and fine-jewelry offer. The available material presents Leibish & Co. as a specialist, internationally oriented diamond and jewelry company rather than a mass-market retailer. Its history combines traditional Israeli diamond dealing, online direct-to-consumer retail, access to rare mine-origin tender stones, recutting, and production of gemstone jewelry.

• 2016

  Internally flawless pink diamond acquired

  [1]Leibish & Co.en.wikipedia.org

  The company acquired a 0.71-carat emerald-cut fancy intense pink diamond described as internally flawless by GIA.

• 2016

  Gemfields emerald collection released

  [1]Leibish & Co.en.wikipedia.org

  Leibish & Co. introduced a jewelry collection developed with Gemfields using emeralds from Zambia’s Kagem mine.

• 2015

  Large Argyle tender acquisition

  [1]Leibish & Co.en.wikipedia.org

  In cooperation with Kunming Trading Co., Leibish & Co. acquired 26 of the 65 diamonds offered at the Argyle tender.

• 2014

  Purple Orchid presented

  [1]Leibish & Co.en.wikipedia.org

  The company presented the 3.37-carat Purple Orchid fancy intense pinkish-purple diamond at the Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Fair.

• 2013

  Seven Argyle tender diamonds acquired

  [1]Leibish & Co.en.wikipedia.org

  Leibish & Co. bought seven stones at the Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender and planned to recut two of them.

• 1995

  Launch of FancyDiamonds.net

  [1]Leibish & Co.en.wikipedia.org

  The company established FancyDiamonds.net and began marketing diamonds directly to customers through the Internet.

• 1979

  Company founded

  [1]Leibish & Co.en.wikipedia.org

  Leibish Polnauer founded Leibish & Co. after beginning independent diamond trading following the closure of the polishing factory where he worked.

A specialist luxury diamond and jewelry brand focused on natural fancy-color diamonds, rare tender stones, colored gemstones, online direct retail, and bespoke or high-value jewelry.

• Diamonds

  Natural fancy-color diamonds

  The company’s core specialty is natural diamonds with visible body colors such as pink, red, violet, purple, brown, and combinations of these hues. Its offering emphasizes rarity and gemological distinctions, including color intensity, clarity, carat weight, cut, and provenance. Leibish & Co. has also participated in specialist tenders for exceptional colored diamonds.

• Diamonds · 1995

  Loose diamonds

  Leibish & Co. trades and markets loose diamonds for collectors, investors, jewelry buyers, and clients seeking stones for custom settings. The company’s online retail model was established in the 1990s and is associated with presenting high-value colored diamonds directly to customers rather than limiting sales to traditional trade channels.

• Jewelry

  Fine jewelry

  The company produces jewelry incorporating colored diamonds and gemstones. Its fine-jewelry activities extend the business beyond loose-stone trading and allow rare stones to be sold as finished rings, earrings, necklaces, and other luxury pieces. The available reference material particularly associates the jewelry offer with colored stones and collaborations with gemstone suppliers.

• Colored gemstone jewelry · 2016

  Gemfields emerald collection

  Released in 2016, this collection was developed with Gemfields and used emeralds from the Kagem mine in Zambia. It represented an expansion of Leibish & Co.’s product scope from colored diamonds into a broader colored-gemstone proposition while retaining the company’s focus on fine jewelry and traceable or identified gemstone sources.

• 2016Gemfields emerald jewelry collaboration

  International

  Leibish & Co. worked with Gemfields on a jewelry collection featuring emeralds from the Kagem mine in Zambia. The collaboration supported the company’s expansion into colored gemstones beyond diamonds.

  Outcome. The collection was released as part of the company’s mid-2010s expansion of its colored-gemstone and fine-jewelry range.

  Source

• 2016

  Expansion into Gemfields emerald jewelryProduct launch

  Background

  Leibish & Co. had traditionally been identified primarily with colored diamonds but was expanding its colored-gemstone activities.

  Action taken

  The company released a jewelry collection in cooperation with Gemfields using emeralds from the Kagem mine in Zambia.

  Aftermath

  The initiative broadened the company’s fine-jewelry offer into colored gemstones while preserving its specialist luxury positioning.

  Source

• 2015

  Joint acquisition at the Argyle tenderOther

  Background

  The Argyle tender provided access to a tightly limited group of mine-origin pink diamonds.

  Action taken

  Leibish & Co., working with Kunming Trading Co., acquired 26 of the 65 diamonds offered.

  Aftermath

  The acquisition demonstrated the scale of the company’s participation in the specialist colored-diamond market.

  Source

• 2013

  Participation in the Argyle Pink Diamonds TenderOther

  Background

  The Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender offered a limited selection of rare pink, red, and violet diamonds from the Argyle mine.

  Action taken

  The company successfully bid for seven of the 64 stones offered and announced that it intended to recut two of them.

  Aftermath

  The purchases reinforced Leibish & Co.’s profile as a specialist buyer and recutter of rare natural fancy-color diamonds.

  Source

• 1995

  Move into Internet-based direct retailStrategy

  Background

  The company had developed from a diamond-trading business and sought a way to present specialized, high-value stones to customers beyond traditional trade networks.

  Action taken

  Leibish & Co. established FancyDiamonds.net and began marketing diamonds directly through the Internet.

  Aftermath

  The move positioned the company as an early online seller of high-value colored diamonds and supported its later international retail activities.

  Source

1. 1Leibish & Co.en.wikipedia.org