March 1, 2021
Vol. 4 - Election Special
Message From the Board of Directors
Message From the Election Committee
Dear Members,
There was an error in the Election Ballots received by you last week.
Corrected Ballots that have 11 BOD candidates will be distributed later this week.
Please disregard the old ballots and vote on the Corrected Ballots only.
Please accept our apology for this error!
Thank you!!
Meet the Executive Board of Directors
The following Executive Board of Directors are running unopposed in the current elections:
  • Moshe Salem, President
  • Kalpesh Jhaveri, Vice-President
  • Antranig (Tony) Ayvazian, Vice-President
  • Rahul Parikh, Treasurer
  • Vatche Shirikjian, Secretary
Meet the Candidates for the Board of Directors
(alphabetically by First Name)
Abokhai Chulpev of
G.C. Diamonds
Thank you for your offer to participate in the diamond club. The club has done a lot and continues to do for all of us what it can. So I also agreed to devote my time to the club.
Alexander Kantor of
M. Kantor & Associates
Time flies when you're having fun! Growing up, I thought I wanted to work in restaurants but when my father offered me an opportunity to work in the family business when I turned 25, I couldn't say no. After spending the last 5 years in the jewelry business, I realized there is nowhere I would rather be. It has given me an opportunity to travel the world, work with fun people and continue to learn every day. I am a Los Angeles native who majored in Business Management at Indiana University. My father, Michael Kantor, has been in the business for over 50 years and I am lucky enough to work with my brother and sister as well. As a member of the board, my goal will be to bring a lot of young blood to events.
There are a lot of young diamantaires in Los Angeles but they don't know who to contact for help. The diamond club is a great resource for them. I look forward to the opportunity to bring some of my ideas to light.
Alpesh Ramani of
CVD Diamond Inc. 
My name is Alpesh Ramani, I studied business finance and Real Estate in Cal State University Fullerton. I started my career as a gold miner and mining machinery dealer in Ghana, West Africa. After learning about lab-grown diamonds in 2012, I moved back to Los Angeles in 2013 and opened the first Lab Grown Diamond office in Downtown Los Angeles. My vision is to represent the views of the lab-grown Diamond industry in Diamond Club and help contribute to the overall growth of Diamond Club West Coast.
Charles Carmona of
Guild Laboratories
My name is Charles Carmona and I am a Graduate Gemologist (GG) and an Accredited Senior Appraiser (ASA). I opened my business Guild Laboratories in 1980 in Los Angeles and now have branches with Chinese partners in Hong Kong, Shenzhen (China) and Bangkok (Thailand). 
Guild does diamond grading and colored stone identification reports for the trade, as well as jewelry, coin and silver appraisals to the public, attorneys, accountants and the courts. Over the years, I have served on several industry boards and look forward to bringing my knowledge and experience to serve on the board of the world-famous Diamond Club West Coast.
Doron Auslander of
Adler Trading
I have been a member of the club for over 27 years and am on the Board of Directors for the last four years. I’m also currently part of the Membership and Floor Committees. I live by the philosophy that the most important attribute is having respect for each other.
I appreciate working with my committees alongside the BOD and its ability to take immediate action to increase membership.
Being a board member is hard work and I hope the members trust and respect the BOD’s decisions. As difficult as it may be, I enjoy contributing to the BOD and feel that if each member volunteers some of their time and skills with the club, the club can be a better place and can accomplish so much more.
Elliot Steele of
Elliot Steele Company
Hi I’m Elliot Steele. I’ve been in the business for nearly a decade and now a club member for two years. I’m running for the social committee in order to try and bring fun and interesting new ideas and events to the club. I also intend promoting events that further educate and create new business opportunities for club members.
Itay Shpitz of Sam Diam USA
I was born and raised in Israel, after my Army service, I moved to New York and later Los Angeles. I’m 3rd generation in the business and also a member of the Israeli Bourse. I want to bring some “new & young blood” into the board and think now is the time to be active and contribute back to the industry that I have been part of for so long. I believe we have to connect young and old minds together as we are in an industry that's transitioning. We need to advance wisely into the new century.
Sean Eitani of LA Gems Ltd
I, Sean Eitani would like to be considered for BOD. My family has a long-standing relationship with the board/club. I would like to continue this relationship while also expanding it at the same time. I believe that the club/industry is changing with the times and I would love to be part of the evolution. It will be beneficial to the club and industry to really start encouraging the young dealers to be more involved with the DCWC. Aside from my strong morals and good name, I would really like to head up on bringing more diversity to the club.
Sina Partonavid of
Century Diamond
I joined the industry as a teenager working at our family jewelry store and later became a diamond dealer after earning a Computer Science and MBA degree.
Through the years, I have been very fortunate to have had DCWC members and Board members mentor me and help me grow in the industry. DCWC is a very special organization and a community of members whose knowledge and experience can be a key driver for the next generation of jewelers and diamond dealers. Joining the board of directors, I would like to encourage and contribute to creating a mentorship program to help the next generation of jewelers and dealers achieve their dreams.
Stanley Horowitz of Gerson & Horowitz
 I appreciate the nomination to be a member of the DCWC Board of Directors.
As a current resident member of the diamond club, I hope to be able to bring to the board a hands-on perspective of what it’s like having an office in the club.
This perspective should help to shape the new design of the club and provide a better working environment for the many newly anticipated resident members.
Tanya Parikh of
Janvier
My name is Tanya Parikh, and my biggest goal in the jewelry business was to break out of the shadow of my Father’s & Uncle’s incredible names and be recognized as my own. In a mere 5 years, I am sitting here being discussed on this round table of elite industry professionals for that exact reason! Now it’s time to set new goals, and my goal with the Diamond Club West Coast is to bring it into the new age ways of conducting business, marketing ourselves, and networking with other organizations. Though I’d be the rookie on the team, I’d be able to share a fresh and progressive perspective on an industry that has been around since the beginning of time.
Diamond Club West Coast, Inc. | (213)-623-1162 | www.diamondclubwestcoast.com | diamondclub.la@gmail.com |