The indexing of diamonds will allow them to become part of Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) and other financial packages that can be traded on the stock market, and can ultimately be speculated over. Potentially, this could create an enormous change in the diamond trade, as it can sometimes take a long ti me to find a buyer for a diamond today, owing to its individual particularities and uniqueness.

According to the Kimberley Process, rough diamond exports to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) grew 66 per cent to US $5.87 billion in 2011, while rough imports jumped 80 per cent to US $3.7 billion volume, rough exports rose one percent to 47.214million 1 carats while rough imports grew 20 per cent to 52.083 million carats.

As per the latest figures published by the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), the volume of polished diamonds exported by the country has seen a sharp fall of about 95 per cent at 95 million carats in the last four months since April-2012 compared to 200 million carats exported during the same period in previous year.

Industry sources said the dealers and jewellery companies in US, China, Belgium and UAE are grappling with rising diamond inventories and falling prices, as the slack global economy prolongs a year-long slump. It is estimated that about US $20-US $25 billion worth of polished gems are in the diamond inventories.

In 2010-11, India exported US $28 billion worth of polished diamonds against the import of US $20 billion worth of polished diamonds.

The Argyle Diamond Mine consistently produces virtually the world’s entire supply of rare pink diamonds, as well as sporadically producing blue diamonds. The 19 lots of rare bluediamondsheadlined’Oncein a Blue Moon’ have been collected over the past two years. Manager of Argyle Pink Diamonds, Josephine Johnson said “We are delighted to offer a highly sought after collection of rare pink, red and blue diamonds which are destined for investment portfolios or heirloom pieces of jewellery.”

This year’s prestigious collection showcases several ‘hero’ stones that have been named in keeping with the theme of desirability and adoration of something very beautiful and rare. Tender viewings will be held in Perth, Hong Kong and London with bids closing on 15 October 2012.

The participation of a broad forum of speakers has been confirmed including Eli Izhakoff, Chairman of the World Diamond Council, Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman of the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre Authority, Vasant Mehta, Former Chairman, Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council, Ernie Blom, President Elect of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses, Abbey Chikane, KP Monitor and Peter Meeus, Chairman of the Dubai Diamond Exchange.

“The conference aims to highlight the accomplishments of Zimbabwe in the diamond industry. After having been accepted again as a full member of the KPCS in Kinshasa 2011, Zimbabwe stands ready to give the world full transparency on its achievements as a major diamond producer,” says Mpofu.

Meanwhile the Organizing Committee of WDC has announced that Susan Shabangu, minister of mineral resources, Republic of South Africa and Ambassador Gillian Milovanovic, the chair of Kimberley Process, will be addressing the congress.

‘The diamond processing industry, across the country, is currently paying a uniform 33 per cent tax to the government. We are seeking anything lower than the prevailing tax and a long-term commitment from the state government for considering an investment plan. Otherwise, shifting a manufacturing unit from Surat to Indore makes no sense: said Jain.

The MP government has been striving for over two years to bring diamond processing business from the existing world’s largest hub – Surat – to Indorse where a diamond processing park is proposed to be set up. In order to commence the proposed Park in two years, the government has expedited land acquisition and has acquired around 350 acres so far.

The major aim of the chief minister is to process entire rough diamond produced by Rio Tinto within the state and send only finished jewellery outside. Therefore, the proposed park should be ready and manufacturing units be in place before Rio Tinto starts commercial production in 2016 .

Rio Tinto, however, has not yet formulated a final strategy for the treatment of its rough diamond from Bunder project. “We have not yet decided whether to sell our entire rough diamond output in India our send outside for processing,” said Brude Cox, managing director of Rio Tinto Diamonds. Cox, however, was confident that the diamond produced from Bunder mines is set to fetch a premium over the existing best quality white diamond available in the world.

The Bunder resource has been identified as being the seven times richer than the Panna diamond mine, the only operating diamond mine in India with a iikely production rate at least 20 ti mes greater than Panna. This would rank MP amongst the top 10 diamond producing regions in the world in terms of volume and value.

Yet so often we see jewellery store owners promoting a diamond ring with a brief description of the item (normally written in industry abbreviations such as “TAW” or”H-1 S12″ that many people won’t understand or relate to), followed by a before and after price…then they wonder why they get price shopped by people treating diamonds as a commodity you buy by the pound!

If you want to make sure your copy is effective, and motivate your customers to buy, then here are six simple guidelines you need to follow:

Appeal to their emotions :-

Humans are emotional creatures. We make decisions based on emotion. Logic is used, but usually after the fact, to justify the choices we have already made emotionally.

Effective marketing appeals to human emotions – it makes us feel rather than think. To use this principle when promoting jewellery products or offers, you must emphasize how the product will make the purchaserfeel during or after use. Jewellery is an emotional product – more so than most items that consumers buy. To not tap into these emotions is to leave one of the most potent selling features on the table.

Emphasize the value in what you sell:-

Value is not the same as price. If it was we would all be driving Korean automobiles! If your product is not seen as delivering more value to the user than the price asked, then no one will buy. The key then, is increasing the perceived value of whatever it is you are trying to sell. Regardless of the item, the perceived value needs to outweigh the perceived ‘cost’.-

Appeal to the buyer’s self-interest :-

By nature, people think mostly in terms of ‘what is in it for me?’ This is si mply a fact of life. When we see an ad, our first thought is, ‘how will this product or service help me?’

Yet too much advertising copy is written to appeal to the vanity of the seller, often by advertising reps who know a large picture of the owner with their store name will convince them to run the ad.

Make use of this psychological principle when marketing your jewellery products. Always keep in the back of your mind, ‘what’s in it for my customer/visitor’, and you can’t go too far wrong.

Sell benefits not features :-

Identify the problems your product solves, and then demonstrate how it solves those problems. What problem does jewellery solve? Easy. The need to feel loved, to feel special, or to feel important. Customers don’t buy a Rolex because they need to tell the time – they buy it because of the way it makes them feel when they wear it and show it to others.

Figure out the real reason people buy your products and write your copy accordingly.

Be Believable :-

There are only two reasons why people won’t buy from you.

(A) They don’t want what you’re selling.  Or
(B) They don’t trust what you are saying.

Believability and credibility are extremely important. Especially if you’re selling online, where the barrier to entry for sellers are so low. Many people are also concerned with potential risks of credit card or ID fraud, or paying for a product online only to never have it arrive.

Therefore, you should do everything possible to boost your credibility customersin the eyes of your visitors and coustomer’.

If you have testimonials from happy customers (and if you don’t you should gather them) then include them in your advertising copy. If you have guarantees or risk reversals then mention these too.

Assume a buying decision has already been made :-

What I mean by this is, assume that your visitor is going to buy. And act accordingly.

For example, talk in your copy as if they are purchasing already using terminology like ‘when you buy’ not ‘if you buy’. By being positive it will help to channel your own positive thoughts about the advertisement.
Above all keep testing and measuring. Don’t give up the first ti me an ad doesn’t work – it may be only a word or two that needs to be changed, or a different marketing medium used that can make all the difference.

After receiving graduation in commerce, Naijo decided to follow his dream. Initially it was hard as his family was not supporting his choice. But nothing could dishearten as he was confident about his career.

Entering into the gold business guided by a friend Suresh, Naijo worked hard and sincerely. Suresh educated him well on every aspect of wholesale gold business. On his own, Naijo also started doing research for six monthson varied aspects of the business.

To further understand the gold business scenario, he decided to relocate to Thrissur, the gold jewellery hub of Kerala. As the first step, he started on with gold trading. For complete three years he dedicated himself to this segment. But Naijo was not satisfied or happy with that he was doing.

Finally wrapping up the gold trading, he went to Mumbai to study gemology. He took up three years course in gemology with IGI. Alongside his studies, to hone his expertise in the field he started obtaining training under prominent manufacturers in Mumbai.

He scheduled his time accordingly. After his college hours, he would leave for training between 6 pm and 2 am. This hectic schedule did not exhaust him but in turn boosted his will power to move ahead. After the completion of his course, he returned to Kerala and his only aim was to set up a diamond manufacturing unit.

The young man did not want to start his business in a hurry, without any planning. He decided to move aheac step by step in terms of investment, a good commercial space and many things related to start a business.

Once he gained confidence , in 2006 he set up his first manufacturing unit christened as ‘Flame Jewellers’ with two workers at Thrissur, Kerala. For the first couple of years, it was a struggle. It was challenging to convince the clients in terms of quality, designs, trustworthiness just like any other new business would face.

According to him, “quality cannot be compromised and this was the very reason, I emphasized on having a strong ‘QC’ department in the unit.

Naijo says it was not a very easy task to convince a client, sometimes it was at the third or fourth attempt he would get an order from them. “I would be at the client’s office at 10 am but could see the person only by seven in the evening. My patience is my biggest success,” he adds.

The success of the unit was followed by another unit with skilled employees. This facility deals exclusively with navratan and birth stones and is called as ‘Navaprabha’.

Naijo has no plans to venture into the retail business but plans to spread his wings further on the manufacturing segment. He says, “We plan to become the No.1 diamond jewellery manufacturers in India by 2015.”

Naijo feels time is very precious and one should make virtuous use of it. He also teaches (guest lecturer) gemology to chemistry students at St. Joseph’s college, Cochin, Kerala.