The fast growing diamond industry in India is still much unorganized and is highly fragmented. To add to the chaos, the industry does not have a transparent pricing system in the market. This has resulted in the end consumer being subject to confusion & deception by different prices quoted by different suppliers. To resolve the above issues it is necessary to have a nationwide standard and transparent pricing system. Divine Solitaires is a brand that is pioneering the same in India by publishing a price list every month and making it available to all authorized jewellers across India. By the means of a price list the brand aims to assure the customer of value for money. Buying diamonds for most of us has always been like placing a blind bet in a game of flush. There are so many unknowns that one can never be sure about the quality and the fair price of the diamond. Was the price that your jeweller quoted the fair price? Is there a benchmark against which you can compare? Take the same diamond to a different jeweller and you will most probably get a different opinion on its value. How do you know that the quality grade quoted is correct? All these questions are there in the mind of a diamond buyer and the answer to most of these questions still ambiguous.
Unlike popular belief, the value of a diamond not only depends on the 4Cs (Carat, Color, Clarity and Cut) but also on more than 40 other parameters. And there is no standard and transparent market mechanism that enforces standards across the industry that allows for fair and transparent pricing. This has lead to complications in the buying process of a diamond solitaire. The customer cannot depend wholly on Grading Lab Certificates cause they don’t differentiate between black spots (considered inauspicious) and white spots. They don’t consider imperfections like extra facet or cavities or naturals (unpolished facet) nor do they consider colour overtones or luster of weak diamonds. It is precisely to address these issues that it is necessary to have branded loose solitaires, thus making it the responsibility of the brand to guarantee the customer with perfectly crafted loose solitaires which they can then set into a design of their choice.
Only diamonds of excellent cut, polish and symmetry exhibit Hearts and Arrows, a design that is testimony to perfectly crafted diamonds. A customer should understand that the diamond gets its brilliance from its perfect cut and thus this plays a vital role in his return on investment. In a poorly cut diamond, the light that enters through the table reaches the facets and then 'leaks' out from the sides or bottom of the diamond rather than reflecting back to the eye. Less light reflected back to the eye means less brilliance.
Thus the customer needs to have complete understanding about the quality of solitaire that he is investing. There is presently no measure to address this concern. The ambiguity in the pricing has also made this commodity investment a non preferential or high risk investment. To bring clarity in terms of the pricing a Solitaire Price Index has been introduced by Divine Solitaires. This is a price index that gets published in all major business dailies in India twice every month and is a unique index that helps diamond buyers to keep track of the diamond prices on a regular basis and assists them in making logical buying & investment decisions.
The Solitaire market has a great demand but low accessibility. Thus building awareness about diamond buying and price sensitive schemes such as Upgradation and Market Rate buy back are necessary to bridge this gap. Buying a diamond with an easy upgrade, with full advantage for price appreciation allows the customer to purchase a lesser carat diamond solitaire and later exchange it for a heavier carat stone by paying the price difference at the current market value. Introducing a unique standard & transparent MRP pricing system is one of the most important factors in the Solitaires segment, necessary to reduce the risk for investment seekers. The promise of craftsmanship & quality standards beyond third party laboratories certifications is something that is also essential to build trust of the customer in a loose solitaire brand. Divine Solitaires provides such schemes and thus a mass access to solitaires.
The author of this article is Managing Director of Divine Solitaires