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Eve Goldberg (right) with her mother, Lili.

Ask any new yorker au fait with the diamond trade, and they will (or they ought to) know of William Goldberg. A legend of the big city’s famous industry, it was Goldberg’s unbridled passion, determination and keen eye for stones that saw him carve out a special place in the Big Apple and beyond.

Having started out in 1952, at the time partnering with diamond cutter Irving Weiss, Goldberg quickly grew his business to achieve widespread renown – as much for his fabulous diamonds as his passion for them.

A stickler for sourcing the very best stones, Goldberg loved the joy that beautiful diamonds brought to people, a calling that sees the brand’s history abundant with colourful anecdotes; Sewn into all his bespoke suits was a small, hidden pocket to stash secret gemstones, which he revealed at unexpected moments to bring sudden delight to gatherings. Goldberg’s trademarks of business were many, but amongst them were two guiding principles; he believed in bringing out the greatest beauty in a diamond, even if it meant cutting it without concern for carat weight. Secondly, he believed in the honour of a handshake with that being all that was required to seal most of his trades.

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Fast forward to today and most of the business done at William Goldberg is still sealed by a handshake. Goldberg’s love of stones has been inherited by his children Saul and Eve, son-in-law Barry Berg, and grandson Ben. The family remains a driving force in the high-end diamond business globally through trading stones, evolving their family’s enterprise with modern diamond jewellery and developing their proprietary ASHOKA® diamond cut. Eve Goldberg, William Goldberg’s Creative Director, jests about her father’s ability to communicate with diamonds — apparently, they ‘spoke’ to him —  but alludes to the fact that this ethos still influences the way Eve and her family work together to create incredible pieces. ”When the business started out, we were simply manufacturing loose stones, but when we started making jewellery, we picked up on this concept of the diamonds talk to us… Everything we made was determined by the stones.

Following Goldberg’s passing in 2003, the street formally known as 48th Street between Madison Avenue and Fifth Avenue for the city of New York was officially renamed William Goldberg Way.

“My father grew-up on Tiffany Street in The Bronx, a rather obvious foreshadowing to the industry he would later have such a profound impact on. So when we first got the call that a New York City block was being named after him, it just seemed meant to be,” Eve says.

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At the time, Senator Schumer noted the street’s new title as being named after “the greatest diamond merchant in the world,” marking the legacy of a true visionary — a man who knew that the ‘make’ of a diamond is what reveals its inherent beauty, what determines its unique magic. Now, almost two decades later, when someone asks: ‘Where can I buy an engagement ring or that something-special for a loved one? The answer is still: “On William Goldberg Way, of course”.