“I couldn’t move,” he says.

He knew his only defense was his will to survive, so he turned his back on the animal and started to walk out of the concentric layers of the pit.

“That was the scariest thing I ever did. My sight became useless; my hearing everything. I heard a thump and knew he was following me out.”

He could barely hear the lion’s soft pads and expected him to jump on him at any moment. He narrowly escaped by jumping into a Caterpillar tractor scoop at the mine’s entrance.

“I have never felt more alive than at that moment,” Melas says.

Buried Treasure
Melas has been fascinated by the idea of hunting for gemstones and jewelry from the time he learned, at age 4, that a piece of a gem-encrusted sword given to his great-great-great-grandfather by Napolean Bonaparte was buried in the backyard of his home in Rhodes, Greece.

“I used to spend hours digging holes in the backyard looking for that piece of sword,” he says. “It was my first taste of looking for buried treasure – and I’ve been looking for it ever since in my travels around the world searching for gemstones.”

Melas, born in 1962 in northern Africa, was raised in Rhodes by his mother and her extended family. His quest for treasure drove him to his godfather’s jewelry store where he spent hours watching him set glittering stones into jewelry pieces. He also often went with his mother in the evenings to friends’ jewelry stores to sell to tourists.

Jewelry wasn’t his only love, however. Melas also liked to explore the island with his grandfather. He went with him when he took their sheep up the mountain to graze. He remembers wearing double boots up to his knees to protect him from thorns; that he always had a knife or sling shot on him; and dramatic memories of a monster-sized ram chasing him over a barbed wire fence.

He and his grandfather often sat under an olive tree at the top of the mountain to watch the peaceful sheep graze. They were perfect moments for shared stories and life lessons. One, in particular, stuck with him through the years:

“When with kings, behave like a king; when with peasants, behave like a peasant -- but never the other way around.”

In Pursuit of a Dream
Melas’ mother sent him to school in America in 1974. He graduated from high school in St. Petersburg, Florida, in 1980 and went on to St. Petersburg Junior College to study emergency medical care. He continued to study and design jewelry on his own and discovered the Gemological Institute of America in an article he read on synthetic emeralds. He knew that’s where he was meant to be, but didn’t have the funds to pursue his dream.

He worked several jobs, first as an firemen emergency medical technician, then in sales, until he had the resources to get to GIA. It took him three years, but he finally made it to the Institute in Santa Monica in 1988.

“I packed my convertible and drove for three days from Florida to California, with the top down, to get to GIA,” he says.

Melas fell in love with gemology when he arrived on campus.

“I had a big grin on my face that first day,” he says. “God had pointed me in the right direction. Nothing happens by accident. GIA was university for me.”

He volunteered to help catalog the Sinkankas Collection of historic books in the Richard T. Liddicoat Library and Information Center, which had a big impact on him.

“It made me realize that there is so much out there to learn about gemstones. It added an element of romance for me – I could talk about the origins of stones and how an emerald from Colombia is different from an emerald from Zambia.”

“It also made me realize we could be in a place of treasure, but not realize the treasure is there,” he says.

Melas graduated with a Graduate Gemologist diploma in 1988. William E. Boyajian, president of GIA, remembers Melas as a high-energy young man who had a lot of suggestions on how things could be improved at the Institute, so he suggested Melas take a job to make a difference.

“I threw down the gauntlet -- I think he was a little taken aback,” Boyajian says.

But Melas took up the challenge and became an instructor. Stories still linger about his long hair and maverick teaching style.

“Yianni was very dramatic in the classroom,” says Susan Johnson, director of Education Administration. “He was extremely devoted and sincere about teaching, and worked really hard to develop a passion for gemstones in his students.”

Melas says he often used animated movements and music to simulate geologic occurrences in the earth and to make his lessons exciting.

“My teaching methods may have been unorthodox, but they were designed to capture the students’ imagination,” he says. “I also sometimes brought in gem dealers to give a realistic view of the world they were about to enter.”

Melas was inspired by Richard T. Liddicoat and Boyajian: “Seeing his [RTL’s] and Bill’s devotion to GIA made me strive to do better. It allowed me to see the committment they had to make GIA better.”

Boyajian, though he recognizes that Melas makes some people uneasy, loves his out-of-the-box thinking and creativity.

“I admire someone who is so bold and confident,” Boyajian says. “He’s not arrogant, he’s not uppity; he’s just confident and he has great ideas. He’s got a huge heart and always has the best interest of the industry and GIA in mind. I don’t think he’s always been understood, but I think a lot of him.”

For his part, Melas knows GIA is one of reasons he has become who he is today.

“I owe most of my success to GIA, not only for my education, but because of the people I met, especially the students, who opened doors to their countries when I was there.”

Melas met Helmut Swarovski, Chief Executive Officer of D. Swarovski & Co., in GIA’s bookstore in 1991 and jumped at the chance to help him discover new pockets of gemstone rough. Boyajian gave him his blessing and he was off to find treasures all over the world.

Life in the Bush
Name a gem-rich country and Melas has probably been there: Burma, Vietnam, India, Pakistan, Botswana, Madagascar, Kenya, Zambia – the list goes on and on.

His principal job, for years, was to discover and buy gem rough for Swarovski’s Signity brand.

“When we decided to start manufacturing gemstones, we knew it was important to develop a supply line for rough,” Swarovski says. “We knew we needed to find someone who was willing to spend weeks in the bush. Yianni was perfect for the job.”

Boyajian likens Melas’ search for gemstones to that of a trail blazer.

“He goes out and meets the people in the field, makes friends with them and sets the groundwork for everything else to happen,” Boyajian says.

It’s a world fraught with potential danger, so Melas took survival courses and carefully packed his gear to make sure he had what he needed to live in the bush. That included water and iodine pills, malaria medication (he’s had malaria three times), specific types of clothing, a sling shot (as a weapon and to kill game), a GPS system and compass (in case the GPS failed). 

He observed the law wherever he went, but firmly believed in having some sort of weapon to protect himself, if necessary.

“There is always a risk of being attacked and it’s better to be able to defend yourself,” Melas says.

He says the worst encounters he ever had came when he least expected them, so he learned to be on alert 24/7. His biggest fear, surprisingly, was to get into a car accident and be rushed to a local hospital, where he could contract a life-threatening virus from a blood transfusion.

Communication in the bush can be a challenge, says Melas, who in addition to English, speaks Greek and German and knows several crucial negotiating phrases in half a dozen African languages. He’s found that if he learns a few of the local words for the country he’s in, like food, water, gems and “too expensive,” he can get by. Money, of course, is its own instantly recognizable language, he says.

Melas could not be everywhere at once, so he arranged for African miners and traders to bring gemstones to central locations where he would meet them. He also took samples of gem rough into the bush to show locals, particularly gold-panners, who could point out where they had seen possible treasures.

“Yianni’s sheer love and desire of gemstones made him relentless in his searches,” Swarovski says. “He would never give up until he found the source.”    

Local Connections
Melas saw his role as much more than that of just a gemstone hunter.

“I believe I can positively effect people’s lives in third world countries,” he says. “I saw the many ways the gemstone industry supports millions of people. I believe people want to work with pride instead of being given handouts. For many, gemstone mining is a way for them to realize their dreams.”

He spent a lot of his time forming relationships with the locals and cares deeply for the poorest of the poor. He tried to help by buying and distributing medicine and often took the time to educate the locals about the gems mined in their land. As a result, he was always welcomed back.

“When you return (after a gem material is discovered), you see the kids getting their medicine and families that can now afford to help their kids – that’s the story the people in the jewelry stores don’t hear about.”

His camera gear, which he carried with him on all trips, was his most important tool. He used it to document his travels, but more importantly, to further establish ties with the locals.

“My camera is essential because it helps me establish relationships with miners in the bush who have never seen a camera or even a photograph of themselves,” he says. “I take their pictures and bring prints back when I visit them again. These photos may be the only images they will ever have. It means a lot to them and to me.”

Melas has a very charming and engaging personality, and extremely accurate people-radar, says Susan Johnson, director of GIA Education Administration.

“I trust my judgment with people. I can go and meet hundreds of natives in the bush and hand-pick the ones I think stand for loyalty and integrity,” Melas says. “They are almost always the people I end up doing business with.”

He has fond memories of the friends he has met over the years.

“All of the cultures are different, but as people, the ones who share good values are the same everywhere,” he says. “You become very close to these people. It’s like having family everywhere around the world.”

New Goals and Challenges
Melas worked for Swarovski for 12 years buying countless kilos of gemstone rough from exotic locales across the globe. He also helped develop the Mabila sapphire mine in Nigeria, and helped alert the trade to the beryllium diffused sapphires from Thailand. He was one of the first to discover gem-bearing ruby deposits in Vatumandry, Madagascar, and to purchase rubies from the Mong Shu deposit in Burma in the early 1990s.  

But he also had his eyes on the diamond industry and followed the activities of Lev Leviev, one of the leading diamond manufacturers of the world. He met him in 2001 and was soon appointed CEO of Business Relations and Development for the Lev Leviev group. His assignment was to help open doors in Botswana, a country he had never set foot in.

“Yianni has the ability to handle a situation hands-on in order to obtain the necessary facts and details for a project to succeed,” Leviev says.

He took every opportunity to encourage Botswana politicians and citizens to seek ways of adding value to their core product.

“I believe in Africans and African self-empowerment,” he says.

Melas spent a year in Botswana developing business relations for Leviev, but, decided it was finally time to pursue his dream of designing his own jewelry.

He says he will continue to take occasional trips around the world looking for gemstones, but for now has set up base in New York City and spends hours each day sketching and carving his pieces.

Melas says all his life’s experiences have led him to this place in time.

“I want my jewelry designs to express all of the explorations of my travels,” he says. “I feel like I have come full circle. I am excited about new frontiers and new destinations; after all, I am an explorer at heart.”