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Ramsey, NJ—Eli A. Makhlouf, namesake of Eli Jewels, died December 23. He was 86.

Born in Lebanon, Makhlouf was a sixth-generation jeweler who learned his craft beginning at age seven. His father was a silver filigree artist with a shop in Alkaa, Lebanon, a small town near the ancient city of Balbk. Though a very small town (population 9,000) it was a jewelry center with about 70 artisans working there, and, like his father, young Makhlouf specialized in delicate filigree work.

When Makhlouf was only 13, his father joined the army for a few years, leaving the young teenager in charge of the family jewelry business—which even in his youth, he ran successfully. 

Later, Makhlouf went to Istanbul, Turkey, to learn how to translate his filigree skills into gold. After a few years there, he returned to Lebanon, but instead of his hometown, he went to Beirut to open a jewelry shop there.

The 1970s were tough times in Lebanon. Beirut, torn by war, wasn’t safe, but opportunities in the small mountain towns surrounding the city were few. Like many Lebanese, Mahklouf left behind both home and business in 1977 to start over somewhere else. Some went to Africa—to this day descendants of Lebanese jewelers and diamond dealers remain in the diamond trade in western Africa—while others went to the United States, Canada, and even Australia.

Eli A. Makhlouf, right, is shown at his bench in 1985. At left is son Fred, then 18. The elder Makhlouf's work was the subject of a feature article in the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

Makhlouf, a father of eight, settled in New Orleans, LA, with his wife, Fahima, and younger children. It wasn’t a city brimming with immigrants, but it is a city with a French-speaking heritage. Lebanon was a former French colony, and for a Lebanese immigrant who could read a little English but couldn’t say even “good morning,” in the new language at first, it must have been a relief to hear something familiar.

Despite his limitations with English, Eli and Fahima opened a jewelry shop on St. Charles Avenue in the city, and in later years opened another shop. Well into his 80s, Makhlouf designed a one-of-a-kind filigree cross collection that he made entirely by hand, and his custom filigree pieces are worn to this day by royalty, presidents, heads of state, and movie stars.

Three of Makhlouf’s sons, Simon, Fred, and Sam, followed their father into the jewelry industry. In 1993, they founded their own jewelry manufacturing company, honoring their father by naming it Eli Jewels after him. Many of the firm’s designs (some are shown at top of page) are inspired by their father’s filigree work, and the intricate iron scrollwork found on buildings in the French Quarter of New Orleans. After losing both the factory and their homes in Hurricane Katrina, the brothers relocated to Paramus, NJ, but as son Fred Makhlouf says, the name Eli Jewels ensures their father’s name will live on forever as the patriarch of the firm.