Interviews
Polishing Grills For Thirty One Years
Jemima Hunter
August 4, 2021
The grills master, Gabby Pinhasov is fuelling the urban scene in Manhattan with artistic, one-of-a-kind designs.
The Russian born entrepreneur moved from Israel to America at the age of twenty-six, as a dental technician, which he studied for four years in college. With little knowledge of jewellery, Pinhasov recognised there was a growing market in grills and gold teeth, when arriving on the US scene and made the decision to open a grill specialty booth. ‘When I came to America, I see people wearing grills, so I did the grills thing.’
The booth quickly gained recognition and saw a big increase in sales, Pinhasov opened shop in Albee Square Mall in Brooklyn, as it was known for the large tourism scene. ‘Big Pun was one of the first rappers to come to the Albee Square Mall and buy jewellery, buy teeth. Mike Tyson, we did teeth for him as well.’ Although the shopping centre closed in 2004 for a new development, Pinhasov opened Gabby Jewelers adjacent to the mall shortly after.
‘It was mouth to mouth business; I didn’t heavily advertise for anything. If they need something good, they come to this store.’
With support from his son, Elan Pinhasov, the pair finally settled in Manhattan’s Diamond District on 5th Avenue specialising in custom made grills, jewellery and watches. Since the opening, Gabby Elan Jewelry has amassed over 105K followers on Instagram and produced premium bling for celebrities like Pharrell Williams, A$AP Rocky, Heidi Klum and many more.
With over thirty years’ experience in fitting custom bejewelled teeth, Pinhasov continues to supply hip-hops sublimes with finesse. The entrepreneur has witnessed fashion statements come and go, yet believes the trend continues to be, ‘Fewer diamonds, more plain gold. With watches maybe some diamonds on the bezel, but not blinged out.’
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