Ilan Portugali, GIA Diamonds Graduate, is “a rebel with a cause.” Born in Israel, military service brought him to Madagascar where he bought his first parcel of emeralds. He was mesmerized by them and spent the next year digging for gems before returning to Israel to study gemology. He then traveled to Mozambique a year later as a buyer of rough gemstones. From there, he immigrated to the U.S. to work for a diamond dealer, then completed his Diamonds Graduate diploma at GIA.
In his words, his GIA education “took him to the next level.” It launched him into working for Van Cleef & Arpels and later Harry Winston as manager of their Beverly Hills boutique. Through these experiences, he built relationships with celebrity and high net worth clients, which allowed him to launch his own business years later—Beverly Hills Diamonds—where he sources conflict-free and fair-trade diamonds. The diamonds he sells are high-quality and many are in rare, fancy colors such as pink, blue and green. He uses trust, discretion, transparency and diamond knowledge to contribute to a brilliant cause—ensuring that diamonds are used as a force for good.
Ilan is an active participant of our Alumni Collective and regularly polishes up his gem knowledge with our Continuing Education seminars and also attends GIA Alumni Collective events.
Courtesy: @beverlyhillsdiamonds