I grew up in the Grand Bazar of downtown Baghdad, known as Shorja. Shorja is the main Bazaar in Baghdad where wholesalers, retailers, and consumers meet to trade in products that range from rice to fabric – and still exists today. In my youth I would join my father at his work in Shorja every summer. As I grew older my father became ill, and I became more and more involved in the Shorja and my dad’s business. Because of that I took evening classes until I finished my college degree in Business. 
Business became my life passion and chosen career path. Eventually I finished my MBA, while still running the family business. I left Iraq in the summer of 1979 traveling and working in London, Kuwait, and Alexandria, Egypt.
I arrived at the United States in 1983, in 1985 I joined Kay Jewelers as a Store Manager. So began my fascination with Jewelry and Watches. Engaging with customers and being a part of their family’s happy occasions like Engagements, Birthdays and Anniversaries is such an exciting interaction with people. While at Kay's I built a special interest in jewelry repairs and custom design, and I became very good at it.
That's why in 1997 I opened my own shop "Jewelry Express" at "The Galleria at Tyler "mall, focusing on Watch Service, Jewelry Repair and Custom Design. I became very engaged in our community in Riverside and our store became a destination for Jewelry and watch services.
Based on our success we decided to continue to grow by opening a larger store in the newly renovated Riverside Plaza and changed our name to "Le Vive Jewelry", becoming Riverside’s Full Service Traditional Jeweler.
Although I work a lot of hours, I try to allocate some time every year to travel, mainly to Europe and the Middle East. Although I have seen so many countries I still can’t get enough! I always love to see and study different cultures, architecture, music and food. In October of 2013 my wife and I took a Mediterranean cruise to visit Spain, France, Greece, and Turkey. The previous year we went to England and Morocco.
I am very proud to be serving the greater Riverside County for over twenty-five years as an independent jeweler. I am also very grateful for the support of our community during the hard times of the recent economic crises. My family, my experienced fully trained crew, and I are devoted to continuing to serve our community with the finest quality diamonds, gemstones, jewelry repairs, fine Swiss watches, watch repairs, and more.
