Thierry Silber (CEO I Founder, Diamaz International and Madestones) was
spot on. Why not remove the mixing issue by selling
both types of smaller diamonds at the same price up to a certain size? The
problem is remedied because the price of each type of diamond is the same, so
the consumer will receive equal value because the cost of each is nearly
identical in reality. Selling at the same price and mixing both products at the
smaller size level will reduce high detection expenses, the time involved in
detection, speed up the payment schedule and maintain consumer confidence.
Read on
How to Kill Four Birds with One
Stone
September 22, 16 by
Thierry Silber
The following is a Guest Memo from Thierry Silber, the CEO and founder
of Diamaz International and Madestones.
I'm a third generation
diamond trader, working in the industry since 1978 and selling laboratory grown
diamonds since 2009 with full disclosure. The mixing of small laboratory grown
diamonds into natural melee parcels is a reality and it looks to me to be an
issue that is very difficult to tackle.
In tackling this issue
it would be best to start at the very beginning of the supply chain with the
polisher in India who is not making enough money to feed his family. Each
polishing factory needs a screening device but most do not have one. A lot of
Indian offices are short of space. I have personally seen a parcel of natural
melee being sieved on one side of the table while on the other side of the same
table a parcel of lab-grown melee is being sieved. Stones can jump and end up
in the wrong parcel. Responsible behavior begins with the practices of each
office and factory. Every company needs to implement a system that keeps
natural and laboratory grown diamonds separate.
What is most
irritating is that I constantly hear and read about natural diamonds being
mixed with laboratory grown but to my knowledge not one official complaint has
been registered with any industry authorities. I wonder why?
If I bought a parcel
of natural diamonds and discovered that there were laboratory grown diamonds in
the mix, I would go to my supplier and explain to him that I have no choice but
to file an official complaint. I would explain that it is the responsibility of
the supplier to investigate his sources and that he needs to file a complaint
against his suppliers. I believe that each company must act in a responsible
manner. There will always be some companies that are unethical but I believe
that 99% of diamond companies work in good faith and are ethical.
I think the solution
to avoiding diamond mixing might be actually a very simple one.
Smaller factories
don't have screening devices because they are too expensive. Companies selling
to big brands need very expensive detection machines or bring their diamonds to
diamond laboratories for detection. The screening procedures delay the delivery
of diamonds and that impacts payment timing. Time loss is very costly
especially with the tight margins in the diamond business.
Are these added major
costs really necessary? When considering the cost of production of small
diamonds, everyone agrees that the majority of cost lies not in the material
but in the labor. The cost of these diamonds is all in the cutting process.
Why not remove the
mixing issue by selling both types of smaller diamonds at the same price up to
a certain size? The problem is remedied because the price of each type of
diamond is the same, so the consumer will receive equal value because the cost
of each is nearly identical in reality. Selling at the same price and mixing
both products at the smaller size level will reduce high detection expenses,
the time involved in detection, speed up the payment schedule and maintain
consumer confidence.
In French we
say: on fait d'une pierre deux coups; in English: to kill two birds
with one stone. In this case we can kill four birds with one stone.
No comments:
Post a Comment