Diamond Trader Ishaia Gol

Al Gilbertson

It is always enlightening to encounter individuals who have left an indelible mark on the jewelry industry. Among these remarkable people is Ishaia Gol (see above), a multi-faceted diamond entrepreneur and owner of Ishaia Trading Corp. in New York.

In his early twenties, Gol arrived in New York in 1975 after five years of service in the Israeli army, including during the 1973 war. He had two goals: to attend New York University and start working with his older brother, David, who was in the gem and diamond business in Italy. David was the oldest of six brothers, and Gol was the youngest. To become a buyer in David’s American office, Gol needed to become an expert in the trade, learn English, and earn a business degree as soon as possible.

Gol’s merchant Jewish family originated in Afghanistan, where they bought furs and other goods in Russia and sold them locally. The family relocated to Israel shortly after it became a country in 1948. David began cutting diamonds in Israel, where this was a growing industry. But he became bored sitting at the cutting wheel for hours on end and started traveling to sell diamonds in 1956. He opened an office in Milan, and by 1960, he was buying sapphires, rubies, emeralds, and other colored stones from Mumbai. These were more profitable for him than diamonds, but they sold slowly. David then shifted his focus back to buying larger diamonds, frequently visiting New York to make purchases. With the opening of the New York office, David needed his brother to manage it.

At the start of his career, Gol’s role was to purchase diamonds for distribution in Italy and throughout Europe. He balanced this responsibility with academic pursuits in New York, studying business at NYU and obtaining his Graduate Gemologist diploma in one of GIA’s earliest New York classes. Throughout his studies, he took the F train daily from NYU to 47th Street, where he rapidly acquired the skills to saw, cut, and sort diamonds—all while learning English.

After obtaining his GG diploma, Gol would go to GIA’s laboratory every morning to submit diamonds for grading and then ship them to his brother. GIA’s “little office on 580 [Fifth Avenue]” was where he stood in line and chatted with other dealers. As demand grew, the laboratory expanded to two floors, with the second floor dedicated to diamonds under two carats and the tenth floor for larger stones. The lines on either floor were so long that submitting a diamond could take half a day. Dealers with diamonds in both size categories had to wait in two lines. Gol would arrive early and have his secretary hold his place for hours. Some people even set up a business queueing for others. Gol recalled, “The corridors would be packed with hundreds. It was crazy!”

Gol quickly found himself immersed in New York’s tight-knit gem community. Dealers and cutters would share coffee, jokes, and advice. As a newcomer, Gol sought their opinions on the stones he was considering. Once he established himself as a reputable gemologist, they soon asked for his advice. Gol’s opinion was held in such high esteem that William Goldberg would consult him to resolve family disputes over stones. “We had an amazing friendship,” Gol said of Goldberg. Lazar Wolf was another important influence: “He understood diamonds like no other person in the world,” Gol noted.

As a dealer in New York in the late 1970s, Gol hired another gemologist. Since then, he has always had another staff gemologist, and as a team, they developed a formidable reputation. Dealers trusted Gol to check or even polish diamonds for them. One important assignment involved cleaning up the famous but badly bruised 41.37 ct Ashoka diamond. Gol also helped sell other important diamonds, including the 76.02 ct Archduke Joseph, with perfect D color and Internally Flawless clarity, which originated from the ancient Golconda mines of India. Gol’s team attended major auctions, where they would study the offered diamonds for hours. Many of them did not carry a grading report. The team would buy some of these large diamonds, have them graded, and sell them for a good profit.

Gol’s first recommendation for any aspiring gemologist who wants to work with big diamonds: “Dive headfirst into the world of auctions and gain confidence there. Don’t be shy—attend them all, from quaint little affairs to bustling sales in Paris and beyond. Be willing to travel to the farthest corners of the globe to lay eyes on a single extraordinary stone.” He also notes, “To truly understand a gemstone, it must be viewed under consistent conditions. Always carry the same portable light source, ensuring each diamond is seen in the same familiar glow. Examining all stones against a white, nonfluorescent plastic backdrop will help better compare their unique characteristics.” Gol swears by his trusty tweezers, which he uses with 10× and 14× loupes, and a set of master stones he has used for color comparison for more than four decades.

Ishaia Gol’s final piece of advice is to never stop learning. He urges aspiring gemologists to soak up as much education as possible: “Take every class you can get your hands on—it is the key to unlocking a successful career in this field.”

This June 2024 interview with Ishaia Gol was captured on video (see below) as part of GIA’s Oral History Project to be used by future historians.