Gerald Levenston, Born 1914, Toronto, Canada
Who's Who in Business
Irresistible Appeal of Diamonds
February 20, 1954
Saturday Night
By John Wilcock
AS HEAD of Baumgold Brothers of Canada Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of one of the world's largest diamond companies, Gerald Levenston spends a large part of each day inspecting diamonds. This work, although it may sound routine, never bores him; instead it has inspired him to more and more extravagant praises of the sparkling gem which takes up so much of his time.
"Actually," he says with a smile, "it takes up more time than it should. I find myself thinking about work on all sorts of occasions when I am supposed to be relaxing. But diamonds are like that. They're one of nature's wonders and we in the business can merely adapt them; we can't change methods of manufacture as one might with, say, fountain pens or plastic table tops."
Brown-eyed Gerald Levenston, a well built former Lieutenant-Colonel with dark hair that is greying and a pleasantly soft voice, never intended to enter the business at all, despite the fact that both his Scots-born father and his second cousin were well known at London's Hatton Garden, centre of the world's precious stone trade. Instead, after a schooling in Toronto, which culminated in a course at the University of Toronto, he went to England in search of a writing job and finding journalism overcrowded, did publicity work for a film company. One year later, however, in 1936, he returned to Toronto and became apprenticed to a diamond firm.
The war years kept him occupied in the army, first in the Infantry and the Canadian Armoured Corps and then for a while with a British tank regiment in North Africa. He was in France just after the invasion.
When he returned to Canada in 1946 the combination of his family background, his talent for appraising gems and his army record (he still carries a revolver, by the way) was irresistible to New York's Baumgold Bros. who hired him as General Manager of the Canadian company they were setting up.
Since that time his working days have been similar. Cut diamonds for jewellery - at present the Canadian firm does not handle industrial gems - arrive almost daily from the world's markets, and with the rest of the small staff, the 39-year-old General Manager takes his turn at sorting and grading the gems, each one of which is as individual as the woman who may eventually wear it.
Neatly-dressed Levenston wears no diamonds himself, a double banded gold and platinum ring being his only trinket, and he is non-committal about his wife's and 8-months-old daughter's liking for precious stones. (He also has two sons aged four and two.) But he admits that diamonds appear to be irresistible to most women, as the interest in the $15 million show his firm organized at the CNE last year would seem to prove.
His personal taste, as a collector, is satisfied by the antique furniture and china with which he fills his Toronto home. Back in England he used to race cars, too, but claims that he gave this up when he became a family man five years ago.
Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands decorating Canadians with the Royal Order of Orange Nassau with Crossed Swords (1945). Gerald is next in line to receive his medal. Next to Gerald (to his left) is Lieutenant-General Guy Simonds, II Canadian Corps.
Gerald (Deputy Assistant Quatermaster-General, II Canadian Corps) at a dinner for Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands at the Summer Palace (1945). The Prince is wearing glasses and is smoking a cigar. Gerald is sitting at his right.
Some of Gerald's medals from WW2.
Levenstons Migrate to the Internet
The Levenston and Stibbe Families (5000 names)
Mike's Martial Arts - 7th Degree Black Belt - San Sho Do
Works best with Netscape.
Michael Levenston, Theatre Manager, 1855-1904
Revised January 22, 2004