Born into a family with jewelry experience for over 40 years, Raffi has been involved with the family business, Ballerina Jewelers Inc. from an early age. As a child, he spent countless hours there, watching his father and his staff perfect his craft. He spent his summer breaks at the company where he learned setting, polishing and other bench skills giving him knowledge of all aspects of jewelry-making early on. His innate creativity pushed him to pursue design and so at the age of 15 Raffi began designing and carving for his family business. As the years progressed his love for designing inspired him to create his own personal collection in 2003 called “DeLeo.”

The meaning of “DeLeo” — DeLeo represents Raffi’s creativity. Literally meaning “from a Leo,” Raffi wanted to create a line that represented more than just him, but also his personal and unique creations brought to the public “from a Leo” or “from Raffi.”