As part of its efforts to adapt to the evolving market, World Shiner has moved its Melbourne operations to a larger premises.
World Shiner director Maulin Shah explained that the new office space had been designed to provide diamond customers with greater privacy when selecting and buying their goods and was more than double the size of its previous office, which the business had occupied for the past 11 years.
Shah acknowledged that the current diamond-trading environment was “very tough” and that the decision to construct the new space wasn’t taken lightly. However, he said the move had proven to be beneficial for the business and helped to demonstrate World Shiner’s commitment to the local market.
He added that the industry had changed significantly in the past five to 10 years, particularly when it came to retailer expectations.
“There is a far greater expectation from local jewellers when it comes to the quality of diamonds. They [jewellers] are very specific in their demands – this includes everything from colour, clarity, price, cut, florescence, physical appearance and inventory control,” Shah explained.
He said these demands were – at least in World Shiner’s experience – largely driven by the end-consumer’s increasing knowledge of diamonds.
“It’s a flow-on effect, whereby the end-consumer’s expanding diamond knowledge and demands on the retailer directly impacts our business dealings at a supplier level,” he explained, adding that such specific requests had “definitely made our job more difficult but we like the challenge.”
Commenting on how this expectation for greater diamond quality had impacted the supplier’s processes, Shah said, “Because of more specific requirements, and in order to find a stone that exactly matches the client’s request, we have increased our quality control levels for both local and international operations.
“The move ensures that the stones we have procured not only match customer requirements but also will match the expectations of the grading certificate.” This has resulted in the appointment of more quality control staff being employed in the international diamond sourcing hubs.
“We have also noticed that retailers are now placing more emphasis on seeking our opinion on a diamond’s specifications, irrespective of grading certificates,” he added.
World Shiner is headquartered in India and has been operating in Australia for almost 20 years. It also has offices in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.