Page 12 - magazine
P. 12

A Legacy




                       of Pearls

















                    Not only did Orna and Isaac create a world renown fine jewelry
                 brand, they did so in Jerusalem. This would no doubt make Shlomo
                                             Moussaieff doubly proud.



              During  their  35  years  of  marriage,  Orna  and  Isaac  Levy   was there, steeped in the world of jewelry, that the young   buttons. Factories soon shot up along the banks of   The small town of Vincennes had one post office   From top:
              have  raised  a  beautiful  family  and  created  a  world-  Orna learned how to string pearls even before she learned   the river. The muscles were harvested and made   with  only  one  employee.  Even  so,  with  its  low   Rehavia and Lea
              renowned fine jewelry brand from scratch. Together they   to walk.                                                      into  attractive  mother-of-pearl  buttons  for  the   amount of mail traffic, it still seemed over-staffed.   Moussaieff and
              are  the  perfect  couple,  complementing  each  other  in   Chana  was  one  of  twelve  siblings.  Her  father  (Orna’s   burgeoning  clothing  industry.  Since  the  buttons   But  that  all  changed  when  Rechavia  and  his   Orna's mother (as a
                                                                                                                                                                                                                               baby) on the way
              so many ways. But interestingly, their backgrounds could   grandfather),  Rehavia  Moussaieff,  was  a  Jerusalem  born   were cut out from the shells of the muscles, no one   brother  quickly  found  a  fertile  market  for  these   to Alexandria, 1924.
              hardly have been more diverse.                                                                                          was particularly interested in the pearls that these   splendid  pearls  and  began  mailing  them  out  to
                                                                 jewelry  dealer.  In  1914,  aged  twenty,  he  left  Israel  and                                                                                             The Moussaieff
              Born  in  Jerusalem,  Orna  grew  up  in  a  comfortable   traveled to America in order to escape conscription into     muscles often contained.                    eager buyers around the world. The small town‘s   family
                                                                                                                                                                                  sleepy  post  office  quickly  became  a  bustling
              household. Her father Yaakov was responsible for bringing   the  Turkish  army.  Together  with  his  brother  Yehuda,  he   Having  fled  from  Ottoman-ruled  Jerusalem  and   hub  of  activity.  As  the  daily  orders  arrived,  the   The Wabbash River
              the  well  known  cash  security  company  Brinks  to  Israel.   traveled to Paris where they heard a rumor about a certain   finding himself in the heart of an industry that was   packages of pearls were dispatched. The postal   Vincennes, Indiana.
              Orna’s mother Chana was a descendant of the illustrious   river  in  America  whose  banks  were  covered  in  pearls.   discarding pearls in favor of their shells, Rechavia   worker  found  himself  overwhelmed  with  mail  for
              Moussaieff  family.  Following  in  the  family’s  footsteps,  she   Securing  passage  on  a  ship,  they  set  sail  for  New  York.   thought  the  world  had  turned  upside  down.    Rechavia and Yehuda’s thriving pearl business.
              became  a  third  generation  jeweler.  Chana  opened  a   After being processed at Ellis Island they traveled 800 miles   Wasting  no  time  he  and  his  brother  began  to
              jewelry  store  in  Jerusalem’s  prestigious  King  David  hotel   inland to a town called Vincennes on the Wabash River, in   purchase the pearls at a very low price and sort   But  Orna’s  grandfather  Rechavia  didn’t  stay  in
              that  saw  forty  years  of  success.  “She  was  an  amazing   the state of Indiana.                                   them  into  groups  according  to  size  and  quality.   America, and his success led him to trade in other
              jeweler”, recalls her sister Nechama. “She knew how to find   At  this  time,  the  Wabash  River  was  brimming  with   To  their  delight,  the  pearls  of  the  Wabash  River   gems  as  he  built  up  a  very  successful  jewelry
              the most talented goldsmiths and gem-setters. She would   freshwater  muscles  that  when  opened  revealed             were  freshwater  baroque  pearls,  and  their  size   business  in  Europe.  Eventually,  he  returned  to
              then instruct them to do this and that, and she would end   spectacular  mother-of-pearl  inside.  This  abundance  of   was larger than those found in the rivers of other   settle in British-ruled Jerusalem. But Rechavia was
              up  with  the  most  magnificent  piece  of  jewelry.  As  a  girl,   muscles gave rise to a flourishing industry, the production of   continents.                  not the first Moussaieff to introduce the family to
              Orna spent a lot of her time with her mother in the store. It                                                                                                       the world of jewelry, gemstones, or even pearls.
                                                                                                                                                                                  The story goes back even further.

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                      One of the first necklaces designed by
                      Orna and Isaac
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