Harry Levy, the soft-spoken Englishman whose unstinting dedication to the industry helped develop many widely used trade standards, died on May 15. He was 83.

Levy was known for his thoughtful advocacy of ethical and clear communication to consumers. He spent many hours wading through the industry’s thorny nomenclature debates, but did so in a way that showed respect and fairness for all sides.

When lab-grown diamonds first appeared on the market, Levy suggested the traditional trade work with producers to develop common standards and bring them out of the “shadows.”

“Being transparent will help everyone,” he said. “Being invisible will help no one.”

As Levy once told London Diamond Bourse president Alan Cohen: “There are no good diamonds or bad diamonds, just good people or bad people who sell them.”

Born in Turkey as Hanukkah Levy, he moved to the United Kingdom as a child. He held degrees in both mathematics and philosophy and was originally an academic but began dabbling in gemstones, starting his own company, Levy Gems.

Levy led a number of prominent trade organizations, serving as president of the London Diamond Bourse, the British Jewellers Association, and Gem-A, the Gemmological Association of Great Britain. He was later named the London bourse’s honorary lifetime chairman.

On an international level, Levy lent his talents to CIBJO, the World Jewellery Federation, and was president of its colored stone commission and diamond commission.

He also headed the International Diamond Commission, and played a key role developing the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) rules for describing laboratory-grown and -treated diamonds. In 2015, the U.K. Jewellery Awards honored him for “outstanding service to the industry.”

Last year, Udi Sheintal, Levy’s successor as head of CIBJO’s diamond commission, hailed Levy as “one of our industry’s most devoted, hardworking, and knowledgeable public servants. He is also a gentleman and what is referred to in Yiddish as a mensch, a decent man.”

His legacy will “continue to reverberate worldwide, and it will last for generations,” Sheintal said.

Following Levy’s passing, David Doyle, president of the U.K. National Association of Jewellers, called him a “generous and kind human being,” and “true gentleman” on LinkedIn.

“Harry gave so much of himself to our trade over so many years,” Doyle wrote. “He will be sorely missed by so very many of us.”

“Harry embodied the very best of CIBJO,” said Gaetano Cavalieri, the group’s president, in. statement. “He was a true gentleman, soft-spoken, gentle, polite and with a iron-clad moral compass.”

Harry Levy is survived by his wife, Lotte. No further information on survivors was available.

This story has been updated with information provided by CIBJO.

(Photo courtesy of the London Diamond Bourse)

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