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Protesters Urge Leviev Diamonds Boycott

Filed under: Jewelry


Those hoping to dash into the Leviev store on Madison Avenue in New York City on Saturday found themselves running a bit of a gauntlet. National Jeweler reports that around 45 pro-Palestinian protesters clustered outside the store urging shoppers to boycott the jewelry store, which is owned by Israeli diamond king Lev Leviev. The group, Adalah-NY has protested in front of Leviev's store seven times since it opened last November (the pieces shown above were displayed during the store opening). They chose last Saturday to make their case to shoppers on a pre-Valentine's day shopping quest. The group says that Leviev, who is also a real estate developer, is building Israeli settlements on what they claim is occupied Palestinian land. Protesters also boycotted outside Leviev's London store (perhaps a more cutting blow since Leviev recently moved to London.

Diamond Billionaire's Posh London Home

Filed under: Estates, Celebrity Shopping


A few weeks ago, I mentioned that diamond billionaire Lev Leviev was switching his main residence to London. It looks like he's found a place to call home sweet home and it just happens to be the most expensive new property ever sold in Britain. Leviev's new house in Hampstead, North-West London cost him £35million. The house will be home to Leviev, his wife Olga and two of his nine children. The home's luxurious features include a cinema, a nightclub, hair salon, an armor-plated front door and an indoor pool that turns into a ballroom with the touch of a button. The house was designed by architect William Bertram of Bath and was originally built for property developer Mansour Namaki, who decided to move to Regent's Park instead. The Telegraph has more pictures of the home including the indoor pool and a £750,000 stone staircase.

[Thanks, Lana]

Israel's Richest Man Moves to London, Sells Plane

Filed under: Celebrity Shopping

Israel's richest man, diamond billionaire, Lev Leviev, is moving to London. Uzbek-born Leviev is said to be making the move with his family in order to focus on the growth of AFI Development, the Russian property unit of Leviev's Africa Israel Investments. AFI raised $1.4 billion in May for its IPS but has since lost about 35 percent in trading on the London Stock exchange. Leviev is taking over as the AFI Development chairman.

In a related story, it has also been reported that he is looking to get a larger private jet. He has sold his Gulfstream Galaxy executive jet to Noam Lanir, the CEO of Livermore Investments Group Ltd. for $10-15 million. Leviev has homes in Moscow, Bnei Brak, New York and London so he's got quite the commute. Rumor has it that Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, a man once rumored to have bought the Airbus A380 for private use, may have already helped Leviev chose his new ride.

Lev Leviev Plans New York Store

Filed under: Jewelry


Russian diamond upstart Lev Leviev is set to take on the big brands like Graff and Harry Winston. WWD covers Leviev's plans to open a new 6,200-square-foot store in New York next month. The store will be located near rivals such as Graff, Chopard, de Grisogono, Kwiat and Fred Leighton. The new store will have over 4,000 carats of diamonds and gemstones on hand including a wide variety of specialty pieces with high price tags such as the distinctive diamond scarf, a swath of yellow and white diamonds set so that they move like cloth . Leviev is also getting into the watch business. Lev Leviev is also helping to create a special tourbillon movement.

The article chronicles Leviev's fascinating past. He started in the business at age 15 as a diamond polisher and eventually developed a new method of laser cutting diamonds. He owns his own mines thereby escaping the rather tight system of supply and demand. This lets him control every aspect of the life of a diamond from the mine to the store. Leviev doesn't have the name recognition of some of the other big players in the game but he does have the baubles to insure a steady stream of wealthy clients.


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