The King of Platinum
Yair Shimansky, known as South Africa’s Platinum King, is a household name when it comes to high-end jewellery. There are few people who have a story quite like his. His journey has been a lengthy and turbulent one and there is more to Shimansky than being the man behind South Africa’s premier platinum and diamond jewellery retailer.
The Shimansky story began in 1991, when Yair Shimansky, founder and CEO of the Shimansky brand, first arrived on South African soil. Shimansky started designing and crafting jewellery which he sold at a beachfront flea market for a year before opening a small outlet in a popular shopping mall. This led to the opening of a full Shimansky jewellery store two years later. It was a meaningful milestone in the Shimansky journey. Prior to this, at the tender age of 22, Shimansky embarked on a two-year journey to Japan, which served as a rite of passage into the world of diamonds and jewellery. It was in Japan that Shimansky, originally from Israel, studied the art of diamond cutting and polishing. After having learnt the intricacies of diamonds and the different cuts, Shimansky headed to South Africa, armed with a unique perspective of the jewellery world.
With a stay-at-home-mom and a father who worked for a large shipping company, Shimansky started life with a somewhat unconventional upbringing. “From the time that I was three months old, I would spend one-and-a-half to two months at sea. By the age of 12, I had visited 30 countries, learning and experiencing different cultures − I could not have wished for a better education,” he recalls.
“Following school, my big dream was to go to America and make a million dollars. However, at the age of 22, I ended up travelling to Japan, where I spent two years learning the art of optics and light performances in diamonds.”
When asked how he was first introduced to the idea of entering the jewellery industry, Shimansky credits his neighbour in Israel. “He was a diamond dealer who told me that Japan was one of the top markets for diamonds. Although plotting my move to America, Japanese culture had always fascinated me. I was intrigued and with this information in mind, I jetted off to Japan armed with some diamonds and jewellery to sell,” he recalls.
“The first six months were tough, going from door to door trying to make sales. I eventually made the right connections and started learning the needs of the Japanese market,” he explains.
Looking back on what he learnt during his time in Japan, Shimansky credits his time there to laying the groundwork for his career. “The Japanese taught me that perfection takes time – if it’s not perfect, it’s not good enough. My time in Japan laid down the foundation for what I do today, and our behaviour for the constant pursuit for perfection.”
When asked which aspect of his job he enjoys the most, Shimansky notes that it is
the pure freedom that the industry affords him. “It’s the freedom to create designs with meaning. Jewellery has long been used as a way of marking and celebrating special moments. [It is] A form of artistic expression that is further personalised by the wearer. It is both exciting and rewarding to be a part of our customers’ lives and happy moments.”
Regarding the most challenging aspect of the job, Shimansky say it is a challenge to maintain his core values in an evolving world. “Staying true to ourselves and communicating the emotional values of jewellery and the special moments they represent in a world that constantly becomes more materialistic and obsessed with instant gratification.”
Although he still frequently travels to Cape Town, Shimansky has since relocated to New York. It is his love for the Mother City that inspired the new Shimansky collection which launched at the end of 2019. The Table Mountain Ring pays homage to South Africa’s most iconic natural wonder. “Table
Mountain is a symbol synonymous with the city. It has often occurred to me, if you take the mountain out of Cape Town, the city would never be the same – it holds the Mother City together,” Shimansky explains.
The iconic silhouette of Table Mountain inspired the design, and the hero piece is a Table Mountain gold ring featuring 27 diamonds, intricately tracing the outline of the mountain. Made from South Africa’s most precious natural treasures, gold and diamonds, the Table Mountain Ring is a physical representation of Shimansky’s love for the city. Visitors can view the making of the Table Mountain Ring at the Shimansky Clock Tower workshop in the Waterfront where the master jewellers and the diamond polishers perform their magical craft.
Shimansky continues to share and showcase South Africa to the rest of the world through its expansion to the United States, with the launch of an opulent showroom on New York’s iconic Fifth Avenue in 2018.
Yair Shimansky is a pioneer in the diamond and jewellery trade. What sets Shimansky apart from others in his field is his complete vested interest and involvement in all areas of his business. Coming from humble beginnings, Shimansky epitomises what it means to work your way to the top. With endless hard work, persistence and a vision he refused to compromise on, it’s clear why “Platinum King” is an apt moniker for Yair Shimansky.