Two Decades of Diamonds: How Avianne and Co. Became the Go-To Jewelers for Cam’ron, Lil Baby, and more…

Brothers Joe and Izzy Aranbayev have endured a lot—including a multimillion-dollar jewelry heist—while designing dazzling pieces for some of rap’s biggest names. This is how they did it.

It’s 10 a.m. on a Thursday in January, but “All of a Sudden” by Moneybagg Yo and Lil Baby is blasting over the sound system at Avianne & Co., a jewelry shop in Manhattan’s Diamond District. Joseph Aranbayev, who goes by Joe Avianne, steps into a ceiling-high glass cube situated at the center of a marble sales floor. It’s surrounded by cases filled with everything from diamond-encrusted watches and necklaces to branded leather accessories. His attire commands attention immediately—an all-over-printed button-up shirt, Dolce and Gabbana sneakers, and shimmering rings, watches, and chains. Dark-tinted sunglasses cover his eyes, matching his slicked back hair and grizzly five o’clock shadow. 

A couple of minutes pass and the glasses come off. He’s interrupted to buzz in someone at the door. It’s comedian Pete Davidson who has just finished up a consultation for a custom piece with Avianne CEO Izzy Aranbayev, Joe’s older brother, in the company’s office located further down the block. The exchange is quick, a simple handshake and hello with Joe before he exits. Ten minutes later, there’s another interruption as a man who isn’t immediately recognizable—but is, based on Joe’s reaction, very important—enters the shop. Joe pauses the interview again, removes his button-up to reveal a white tank top, leaves the glass cube, and moves to another chair in the showroom. It’s his barber. Joe is now getting a haircut in the middle of his renowned jewelry store. The impromptu occurrence falls in line with a mantra he echoes in a thick Brooklyn accent a handful of times: “You have to look like money to make money.” 

Now Pop Smoke’s “Christopher Walking” is ringing out from the speakers. Joe, who’s been fairly soft-spoken up until now discussing the late night he just had at the shop catering to a special client, begins to roar with excitement. His eyes widen as his voice booms louder in the makeshift barber’s chair, like he had just realized how much money he had made the day before. It’s barely even 11 a.m. at this point. A whirlwind morning, but a typical day at Avianne and Co.

Avianne and Co., now a 25-person operation, has become one of the go-to jewelry providers for tons of celebrities and athletes in its 21-year history. Izzy, who is much more lowkey and works behind the scenes while Joe acts as the face of the brand on the sales floor, says they’ve probably created roughly 80,000 pieces in total for artists like the Diplomats, Future, Migos, Travis Scott, Lil Wayne, and Slick Rick. And with these pieces, they’ve influenced the jewelry industry and pop culture. They have a Guinness world record—we will get to that later. They taught Elliot Eliantte, one of hip-hop’s most prolific jewelers at the moment, all about the business—he used to design and make pieces for them. And they helped Adam Sandler become Howard Ratner, the unforgettable protagonist of A24’s Uncut Gems, the Safdie brothers film released last year. The resume is an impressive one, but becoming the spot for rappers to create custom jewelry didn’t happen overnight. 

The Aranbayev brothers immigrated from Uzbekistan, Russia (then the Soviet Union) to Crown Heights, Brooklyn, in 1985 along with their immediate family, uncle’s family, two aunts’ families, and grandparents. Joe and Izzy admit they didn’t have much growing up in the Starrett City housing projects in East New York. Nothing came easy, and they faced the unfortunate struggles many immigrant families encounter. Izzy notes that even keeping the large family together wasn’t the easiest.

Before Joe and Izzy entered the jewelry business, their father Boris Aranbayev, who many affectionately refer to as “Pops” these days, worked at a jewelry store in Flatbush, Brooklyn, before founding wholesaler and manufacturer Mair’s Sons in the Diamond District with his brother, and supplied pieces to other NYC shops in the early ‘90s. Izzy says Pops is still “the boss” and oversees the day-to-day operations at Avianne and Co. Mair’s Sons, which was named after Joe and Izzy’s grandfather, exists to this day.

In total, the Aranbayev family has been in the business for nearly four decades. But Izzy didn’t just want to be a supplier and wholesaler. He wanted to create a brand and design jewelry pieces. He attended the Gemological Institute of America, a nonprofit institution specializing in the field of gemology, for a year to learn the diamond business. After that he spent close to a year working at the International Gemological Institute where he learned how to certify diamonds and colored stones. Then he launched Avianne and Co. with his cousins, Gabriel Jacobs and Avi Aranbayev, in 1999.  They decided against using their Russian last names and opted for something that sounded more luxurious—think Italian luxury brands like Versace, Gucci, and Armani. Izzy and Joe’s father operated his wholesale business out of the back of the Diamond Exchange on the block, which had multiple vendors within its walls, but he wanted his own storefront. They were hard to come by at the time, as the industry was booming, but their location at 28 W. 47th Street was secured because Pops knew who owned the lease. While it wasn’t in their father’s plans, he still supported the move to jumpstart the Avianne and Co. brand.

“At the end of the day, my father wanted to slow down on the wholesale,” says Izzy. “My father always backed us up, no matter what, even if he disagreed with us.”

But building a new brand in the business wasn’t easy due to the high-profile competition on the block at the time. Jacob Arabo, aka Jacob the Jeweler, who also immigrated to the U.S. from Uzbekistan, was hip-hop’s go-to custom jeweler in the late ’90s and early 2000s. He’s well known for custom pieces like a multicolored Gucci link chain he designed for Pharrell or massive dollar sign chain he created for Nigo. More recently, he, in collaboration with Virgil Abloh, produced a watch with an operational roulette wheel for Drake that costs $620,000. But he might be best known for his diamond-encrusted “Five Time Zone” watches. Before him, Tito “Manny” Caicedo was the big name in Diamond District, catering to hip-hop’s biggest acts, like Biggie Smalls, LL Cool J, and JAY-Z (who rapped, “Took my fritos to Tito’s in the District, blessed me with some VS” on 1996’s “Politics As Usual”). He’s known for making the first Jesus Piece, famously worn by Biggie.