A couple of years ago, in New York, Vogue Italia organized a reunion of designers sensitive to environmental sustainability for an event entitled The Protagonist. One of the guests was Yair Shimansky. Considered one of the kings of diamonds, Shimansky presented a ring called the Desert Rose, with South African diamonds totaling 24.13 carats, accompanied by 42 tsavorite gems and in the center a crystal of Namibian desert rose, set in gold 18 carats.
The flower is inspired by the Fynbos, the spontaneous vegetation of South Africa. And there is a reason: Shimansky has its headquarters in Cape Town, South Africa, although it has another office-atelier in New York. In addition to being a jeweler, Shimansky also has a diamond cutting and polishing business in Johannesburg. He is, in any case, South Africa’s leading jewelry designer and creator of South Africa’s most iconic diamond ring, the Millennium Diamond Ring, in platinum, which has a classic and modern design. Not only: Shimansky also the author of the Brilliant 10 diamond design, a round brilliant cut stone with 71 facets (usually 57 or 58) developed and patented by Shimansky. This diamond is the only one with balance between fire, brilliance and reflection of 33.33% in each area.
Curiously, Shimansky does not have a family of jewelers or diamond dealers behind him. He was born in Israel in 1967, with a housewife mother and a father in a large shipping company. At the age of 12, he and his family moved to London. Back in Israel, after a series of temporary works he changed his life with the decision to sell diamonds and jewels in Japan. Where, with a difficult internship, he learned the art of cutting and polishing, but also the need for perfection. Finally, he went to South Africa, where his father had moved in the meantime. After a difficult start, with few resources, today Shimansky is one of South Africa’s most popular jewelry brands.
