Life & Work with Troy Lob of Irvine, CA

Today we’d like to introduce you to Troy Lob.

Hi Troy, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My story with jewelry really started long before I officially joined the business. I grew up around diamonds.

My father, David Lob, learned the art of diamond cutting in South Africa in the late 1970s. In 1982, my family opened Liberty Diamonds in Irvine, California, and we have been in the same location ever since. As a kid, I was surrounded by diamonds, jewelry, customers, and the craftsmanship that goes into creating something people will treasure for a lifetime.

I officially joined Liberty Diamonds in April of 1999. What started as working in the family business quickly became a career and a passion of my own. I wanted to understand more than just how to sell jewelry. I wanted to understand the diamonds themselves, so I earned my Graduate Gemologist diploma from GIA in Carlsbad in 2004.

Over the years, I have had the opportunity to examine and appraise thousands of pieces of jewelry, work alongside master jewelers, diamond cutters and designers, and help countless clients celebrate some of the biggest moments of their lives. I have also watched our industry change dramatically, from the growth of online diamond sales to CAD design, lab grown diamonds, social media, and entirely new ways of cutting and creating diamonds.

Today, one of my favorite parts of what I do is education. I don’t believe buying a diamond should feel intimidating or like a sales pitch. I want people to understand what they are looking at, compare diamonds with their own eyes, and ultimately choose what is beautiful to them. As I often tell clients, online is about price, but in person is about beauty.

Liberty Diamonds is still family owned, and we still operate from the same Irvine location my family opened in 1982. We combine a traditional approach to craftsmanship with modern technology, custom CAD design, unique diamond cuts, and an incredible team of people who have been with us for many years.

After more than 27 years personally in the business, I still genuinely enjoy coming to work and seeing what walks through the door each day. Every diamond is different, every piece of jewelry has a story, and every client gives us an opportunity to be part of something meaningful.

For me, that is what this business has always been about. Not simply selling jewelry, but carrying forward what my family started, continuing to learn, and hopefully creating something worth passing on to the next generation.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It definitely has not always been a smooth road, but I think that is true of any family business that has been around for more than four decades.

One of the biggest challenges has been learning how to evolve without losing what made Liberty Diamonds special in the first place. When I started in 1999, the jewelry industry was completely different. There was no social media, online diamond shopping was in its infancy, and most people relied heavily on their local jeweler for education and guidance. Today, customers can have thousands of diamonds and prices in front of them within seconds. That has forced us to continually adapt while still proving the value of experience, craftsmanship and seeing a diamond with your own eyes.

We have also lived through recessions, the housing crisis, COVID, major swings in gold and diamond prices, and now one of the largest disruptions our industry has ever experienced with lab grown diamonds. Each period brought a different challenge and forced us to rethink how we operate.

COVID was particularly difficult. Like so many small businesses, there was a lot of uncertainty. You start thinking not only about your own family, but also about the employees and families who depend on the business. Some of the people at Liberty Diamonds have been with us for decades, so there is a tremendous sense of responsibility that comes with that.

Working in a family business also has its own challenges. My father and I come from different generations and sometimes see things differently, but I have come to appreciate how valuable that can be. He brings a lifetime of knowledge as a diamond cutter and businessman, while I have tried to help push us toward new technology, new diamond cuts, custom design, social media and new ways of reaching and educating customers.

Through all of those challenges, I think the biggest lesson has been that you cannot become complacent. You have to keep learning, adapting and listening to your customers.

There have certainly been difficult years, but looking back, many of those struggles ultimately made us better. Liberty Diamonds has been in the same Irvine location since 1982, and the fact that we are still here, still family owned, and still excited about what we are building next is something I am very proud of.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
The creative side of what I do is probably the part I enjoy most.

I am a GIA Graduate Gemologist, but I have always believed gemology is only part science. The other part is learning to see beauty. Two diamonds can look almost identical on a grading report and be completely different when you put them next to each other. After more than 27 years around diamonds, developing that eye has become one of the things I value most.

At Liberty Diamonds, we specialize in diamonds, custom jewelry design and creating pieces that are personal rather than simply pulling something out of a showcase. Because my father is a master diamond cutter, I grew up understanding diamonds from a different perspective. We don’t just look at the certificate. We look at proportions, facet patterns, light performance, personality and, ultimately, how beautiful the diamond actually is.

That background has also led me to become passionate about unique and uncommon diamond cuts. We work with everything from traditional rounds, cushions and ovals to antique inspired Old Mine cuts, Portuguese cuts, elongated cushion brilliants, specialty marquise shapes and other facet patterns you simply don’t see every day. I love taking something familiar and finding a way to make it distinctive.

Custom design is where all of that comes together. A client might walk in with a photograph, a sketch, an heirloom diamond, or sometimes just an idea they cannot quite explain. We get to sit down with them, figure out what they are really envisioning, select the right stones, create the design digitally, and then watch that idea become a finished piece of jewelry. There is something incredibly satisfying about seeing a piece exist for the first time that started as nothing more than a conversation.

What sets us apart is that so much of that knowledge exists under one roof. We have gemology, diamond cutting, custom CAD design, jewelry manufacturing and decades of hands on experience. We can approach a project from the perspective of the gemologist, the designer, the jeweler and the diamond cutter rather than simply the salesperson.

What I am most proud of, though, is the trust we have built. We now have multiple generations of families coming through our doors. I have helped people whose parents bought their engagement rings from my father, and now they are coming to us for their own engagement rings, anniversaries and family milestones.

Jewelry is creative, but it is also incredibly personal. We are making things that may eventually be passed down to someone’s children or grandchildren. Knowing that something we created could become part of another family’s story is probably the most rewarding part of what I do.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
If there is one thing I would share, it is how important relationships have become to me over the years.

Jewelry is obviously about beautiful things, but the longer I have been in this business, the more I realize that the jewelry is really just the vehicle. We get to be there for engagements, weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, new babies, accomplishments and sometimes even the difficult moments when someone wants to restore or redesign a piece that belonged to somebody they loved.

Those relationships are what have kept me passionate about this business for more than 27 years.

I am also incredibly grateful for the people who have helped build Liberty Diamonds into what it is today. My father started this journey more than four decades ago, and I have been fortunate to learn from him while also putting my own fingerprint on the next chapter. We also have an amazing team, many of whom have been part of the Liberty family for years and have helped shape who we are.

I believe small businesses still matter. Expertise matters. Craftsmanship matters. Taking the time to educate someone instead of simply trying to sell them something matters.

My hope is that Liberty Diamonds continues evolving while never losing those values. I want my children to look back someday and be proud of what their grandfather started, what their dad helped continue, and the relationships we built along the way.

At the end of the day, diamonds and jewelry may be what we work with, but people are really what this business is about. I feel incredibly fortunate that after all these years, I still get to do something I love alongside my father and an amazing team.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.libertydiamonds.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/libertydiamondsoc/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LibertyDiamonds/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/liberty-diamonds-irvine