Personal Consultation
By Leibish Polnauer, President & FounderWe named our company LEIBISH, Leibish is my name, my first name. It means a lion, and you have to be a lion to survive in this jungle.
We could have selected a fancy name, but we prefer not to hide from our customers. It is important to us that our clients know there are real live breathing people behind the brand. I want my customers to know me, my wife and five children are behind every piece of jewelry we sell.
Leibish Polnauer, Founder and President of LEIBISH
We don’t use software to help us select the goods that are seemingly, the best value for our money. Rather, we examine each of the diamonds and gemstones before adding them to our collection, just as all jewelers did 50 years ago. In fact, I would say that the vast majority of goods we look at are immediately rejected. To assess the finest diamonds and be able to differentiate between two stones with a similar certificate, you need to be an expert gemologist. I am comfortable enough to say, we are experts.
LEIBISH's GIA Certificates
A colored diamond or a fine emerald is similar to a painting. When you want to buy an important piece of art, you consult with an expert, and it’s the same when it comes to buying our goods. You consult a real expert for value, for quality, and for craftsmanship. None of that information is included in the GIA certificate.
The first criteria looked at is the color saturation of the face (or table) of the stone. We study the stone and give it an in-house grade, anywhere from 1-10, before we even look at the GIA diamond report to see what they said. For example, the color face up is much more important than small details of clarity. A fine intense yellow diamond with a VS2 clarity grade is much more valuable than a weak intense yellow with a VVS1.
You would be surprised just how many educated people in the industry are unaware of this basic information. I see it day after day. Especially when it comes to these products, people do their research. They read all the information they can get their hands on and then come to me asking for the specs. They get obsessed with what they learned about colorless diamonds and under the assumption that a diamond is a diamond, apply the same values to colored goods.
Intense Yellow Diamonds
Fancy Vivid Yellow Diamonds
On paper, a VVS1 is more valuable than a VS2. Both groups in each of the images shown above are similar stones with very similar clarity grades. Believe it or not, the certificates are nearly identical. Although in the focused image you can see a difference, how can a layman really know which are the best group of stones when looking at it with a naked eye? The skill is knowing what to look for and where to look for it. Shmulik Polnauer my son is a GIA GG - a real expert.
At age 25, he bought a 3ct vivid blue on his own, and I wasn’t looking over his shoulder. He has proved his himself a many times over, and anyone in the trade would happily vouch for him, hands down. He puts his signature on the appraisals.
Shmulik Polnauer Louping a Yellow Diamond
When buying an important diamond, knowledge is crucial. The certificate gives you a great guideline, but you need someone you can trust to find the most appropriate stones.
The Leibish New York Showroom
Look at the images of the yellows above and just try to identify which stone is of the best value. When you are facing a big decision for a fine stone, contact us. I promise that good advice from a reliable firm with 40 years of experience never hurts.
Have a question, reach out to us today!
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