Venus Jewel has achieved several milestones since its inception in 1969. True to its innovative nature, the company introduced a single-piece-parcel arrangement in 1996 to enhance customers’ buying experience.

Despite some resistance in the beginning, Venus Jewel eventually convinced buyers of the benefits of the campaign, which then became a trend in the trade and helped the company expand into large-sized diamond production, according to Ramniklal Shah, founding partner of Venus Jewel.

In the 1990s, the company started selling diamonds individually at prices driven by the Venus Grading System (VGS®), which was developed in-house, as opposed to the standard practice of manual price negotiations. The comprehensive detail offered by the VGS® made Venus Jewel’s pricing rational and transparent, noted Shah. Furthermore, selling diamonds individually made it easier to trace their origin.

With continuous adoption of digital technologies and improvisation of services, Venus Jewel launched the first ever B2B website in 1997 for selling large-sized solitaire diamonds. Today, more than 50 percent of the company’s sales by value are achieved online. To further improve the online consumer experience, the company launched a Mobile App that provides high-resolution digital photos of diamonds in their entire stock, including inclusion-plotting diagrams, and “Aset” and fluorescence images.

In a span of 50 years, Venus Jewel faced many challenges such as the global economic recession in 2008, which paralysed the US economy and rendered 600,000 people in the diamond and jewellery sector jobless.

At the time, the company opted to protect its employees and keep its workforce intact, without restricting working hours or reducing salaries. Despite a 35 percent drop in turnover, the company survived the storm and came out even stronger.

Venus Jewel attributes its success to an honest, transparent and ethical business model. The company also employs a cash-term policy and does not offer long-term credits to maintain a healthy business relationship with customers.

Technology has brought about ground-breaking changes in the entire diamond industry. Venus Jewel has always been at the forefront of these innovations and technological advancements. The company has been relentless in its research and development efforts to improve its overall competitiveness. “The diamond industry has moved from a relatively stable to a highly difficult environment. Natural diamond buyers such as retailers, consumers and jewellery manufacturers will likely de-stock and hold lesser inventory,” noted Shah. “The effects on natural diamond demand and price will depend on consumer perceptions, preferences and buying patterns. People who can make use of new technology, come up with better ideas and follow transparent business practices will not find it difficult to survive.”