We moving. Present server lot money. New server less money. Present server less features. New server more features.
I technical No. Friend helping. If move easy – website up in 2 hours. If wrong take more time.
Next 3-4 days, DiamondBhai.com fail message – assume I and friend work.
Available facebook/twitter/email/cell
Be happy. Don’t worry. I also be happy and don’t worry.
Dada, How did you start your career in Diamond and Jewelry field?
After completing studies i was looking for good career to get in to. I came to Mumbai and got in to Jewelry making work in Zaveri Bazaar. Did small job work for different companies. Now its been 32 years I am doign this work.
There are two types of people in market – Real Player(Khiladi) and all others. Khiladi always keeps working and finds out way to make progress in life. Everyone in market has personality.Eevryone has different level of Ambitions.
Dada, tell us about your experiences during tough economic times like 2000 and 2008 recessions?
I have been working for 32 years. I have seen much more touger times in past, 2008 was not a big deal. I have seen many rought patches in whoel career, one would not get work for months..sometimes 3-4 months.
Even Today there is lot of work before Diwali but during rainy seasons we are low on work.
In last 32 years, any drastic changes you have seen in the way business is done?
Previosuly only few selected people use to make and buy Jewelry. Nowdays lot of people afford it. Specially in last 10 years things have improved alot.
According to you What things to change in market?
At tiems I see resistance for using new technology. But new machines have to come. Present time demands that every milligram of resource is used carefully. Its required to have zero manufacturing loss. People have to adapt to new changes, its competitive world.
Indian consumers use to buy Gold Jewelry, now more and more people are buying diamond Jewelry. Things are changing.
What is your favourite thing to do when you are not busy?
I spend time in reading Spiritual text.
Any message for members in market?
I really do not have anything to say[smiles]
I am going to talk about 2 things in this post:
– why spamming is not so cool
– what else can be done about it
Precaution: There are no quick fixes when it comes to doing business using Internet.
Situation 1)
Imagine yourself as 17 year old Kid, desperate to go on date with some girl. Would you go all around, approach all girls asking for date? You don’t know them and they don’t know you. But your strategy is “if I ask 100 girls at-least one will agree”
Situation 2)
Better way to handle above situation is – choose right person, introduce yourself, start conversation, become friendly and then ask her out for coffee.
In situation 2, you will have to put more time and effort. You will have to be sincere and honest. But the trust factor will be stronger. Whereas in situation 1, you don’t have to spend much effort. Quickly ask and leave. If you get lucky may be someone says yes.
Spamming email is like situation 1.
When I started DiamondBhai.com, very first month a friend told me that he can get me more then 9000 contact details of people working in Diamond market. All I have to do is start posting/spamming emails to all 9000 people. It sounded easiest and fastest way to make website well known.
However I chose a tougher path. DiamondBhai.com is Zero Spam project. Today most of the people who visit DiamondBhai, come through 4 different ways:
1) google search
2) word of mouth
3) facebook messages
4) Youtube videos
Everyday new people are finding DiamondBhai.com and many continue to visit it, again and again. It is more time consuming process but leaves mush stronger relation and faith towards brand.
If you think you are done with spamming and want to do something different, get in touch with me. I will spend few minutes in brainstorming with you, understand your situation and share few easy action items which help your online presence. And yes it wont be free. You have to buy me Cup of tea and some Kachoris outside Panchratna.
Rajivbhai, Please tell us about how you started your career in Diamond market?
I started in 1994 with Rosy Blue. Company use to conduct training batches of 100s of new employees. Batches were divided in to Semi Assorter, Assorter and Final Assorter. I remember, we were allowed to claim Rs. 600 per month as commute expense, only money we would get as fresher. I never took that money because I thought I was there to learn and make career, didn’t worry about other things.
Everyday I was learning something crucial. Standards were very high. Different grades, cuts and almost all aspects of Diamonds. We would take diamonds coming out of manufacturing floor and then complete the pricing exercise. I saw few who took this training easy, many took years but were still learning; on further interaction found that they had their family Diamond business to join after training. I was relatively more desperate to learn things – my situation made me more focused on learning.
After spending sometime here around 1996 I took job with Intergold (also Rosy Blue company) in Diamond Jewelry work. Spend next 11 years here working on both sides Diamonds and Jewelry. I use to visit Opera House market after 1 pm to take care of Diamond related requirements.
Diamond Assorting becomes more complex if you are also responsible for final jewelry. One have to also consider what diamond will go well after setting and will it match with the design. I paid attention to whole cycle of Diamond – from beginning till the time it gets in to Jewelry.
By 1999 I was completely in to Diamond Buying related business activities and spend all my time in Opera house area.
I would also keep in touch with Skilled people working on production floor – not shy away from resolving small issues. Hence always enjoyed mutual respect with all team members.
I got in touch with Colin Shah, Owner of Kama Schachter. I was taking care of work for one the client and Mr Colin had seen my work. He offered my a very challenging role in Kama. I took month or two to make my mind and then moved.
Work Culture at Kama was full of energy and enthusiasm. Hard Work and skills always got recognition over all other things like background and what community you belong to. Colin Shah would work closely with all of us. He would even join us in Assorting diamonds sometimes. His ways of doing work creates lot of inspiration and gives you room to keep performing.
Quality was area of focus and I worked hard with team to implement good practices and standards. Always had one goal in mind – to exceed customers expectations as far as quality is concern.
Previously we use to work from Goregoan area and then reach Opera House around 2 by then we would miss good deals. 7 years back we moved full-time to Opera House – allowed us to stay close to market action.
Whom would you consider your Mentor in Diamond market?
I strongly feel that I have learned lot of things from several people with whom I have worked. At every stage I was fortunate to have some wise and experienced person to share ideas.
Having said that, I would say I have lot of respect for Colin Shah. He is down to earth and always connected to situation. The level of mutual trust we share is amazing. He is a quick decision maker. He makes sure everyone in team understands big picture. Keeps us updated with all important things going on in market. If I need help in making any decision, many times I text him on phone and he replies back in no time.
What changes do you see happening in our market in next 3 – 5 years?
I believe most of our market will move to Bharat Diamond Bourse. It will be more organised environment to work.
Prices have gone up and people are hesitating to buy Diamonds and gold. Hence I feel prices will go down from here and once again we will see more sales.
Lot of new trends are picking up. There are many who are heavily in to Silver Jewelry. There are some companies who have started doing lot of interesting things in Colour stones. There are interesting things coming up in near future.
Any message for DiamondBhai.com readers?
We should do something to increase Consumer awareness about Diamonds and its value. India has huge market for Gold Jewelry. Probably only 10-15% of the crowd who buys Luxury items look towards Diamonds. So I believe there is huge potential of growth if we educate people to make more informed decision. If honest companies sell quality goods we will see many more domestic buyers.
Today is DiamondBhai’s 1st birthday. This is a happy occasion. Thank you to all friends and associates who believed in project. DiamondBhai.com was founded to give members of Indian Diamond and Jewelry market tools to engage and help the world around them. I am glad and humbled that so many people have started using DiamondBhai in this way.
DiamondBhai is product of the people who use it. Without you and the connections you make to others, DiamondBhai wouldn’t have much meaning. So we feel fortunate to have all of you with us.
To express our appreciation we have created “Thank you” Gift – a Silver Coin. I will be giving this to members who have given interview and shared their life experiences for others to learn and get inspired.
Tell us how you started your career in Diamond Industry?
I had experience in marketing field (Automobile Industry) prior to I got in to Diamond market. I started in 2004 I didn’t knew much about Diamonds but was good at marketing and business problem solving. I worked here for 3 & 1/2 years after which I decided to be on my own. Started my business.
How was your experience during 2008 slowdown?
I had just begin planning things for my business. Very early I got in to unexpected trouble. To grow my business network amongst supplier and manufacturer, I started working with one broker. In less then 15 days this guy turned fraud and cheated business account. He was not to be seen and everyone started questioning me. I was not connected to transaction but got dragged in to issue. I had really tough time, couldn’t enter market for next month or two. Later 3 of my well wishers who are also reputed businessman in our market came to my help. They sorted out whole problem and made things easy for me.
After this incident was over things started working out well for me. I have lot of faith in God and gradually started making progress.
If not Diamond market what oter profession you would have got in to?
I could have continued in Automobile industry. Also I have ideas about doing some business related to Food industry. Even today I keep working on my plans to have a side business in to food related industry.
Diamond Industry has seen lot of changes in last few years. Previously we use to depend completely on International buyers. However in last few years financial conditions of lot of Indians have improved. So now we have domestic buyers. Having said all that, Diamonds are luxury item whereas Food is necessity. Hence I want keep this balance in my business portfolio.
What major changes in Indian Diamond Industry you think will happen in near future?
Our market is not a local business house anymore. It is globalized now. One mouse click gives you access to products from all across the world. Hence in times to come for Brokers like me and middle business person will face more challenges to do business.
I am working as broker for last 7 years. I have seen senior Brokers who don’t have to run much to do business because they have been doing work for ages. They did pretty good as per old arrangements. Previously people use to grade by them-self. Now we have Rapaport. Not very exciting to know that we depend on Rapaport. We have almost like slave to this new trend.
Do you think Mumbai market will move from Opera House to Bharat Diamond Bourse in BKC?
Very difficult to answer. I have been hearing about it ever since I started my career. Out of all people I know, many say that lets just improve things here in Opera House and not move anywhere. Many say we should get out of old systems and move ahead.
Any message for beginners/members in market ?
My father told before in early days of my career – it takes 1000 days for any business to start showing positive results. This statement is very common amongst Gujarati community. All it means is it takes some time for things to pick up so keep working hard and have patience. Also if you get to see bull and bear phase then it adds more business skills to your profile.
3 quick things about below video
1) Market.DiamondBhai.com is Serious business
2) below video will be best video you will see today
3) we had lot of fun making it
We made a video which was just minute long. While we were making main video, my iPhone captured all the fun we were having. I thought let me just share how much fun we had making this video, so I added a ‘making of video’ clip at the end.
video shows Chetan Parmar(founder – DiamondBhai.com), Piyush Bavalia (Video Creation), Nitin (on Camera). Piyush and Nitin are my cousin brothers
Link: market.DiamondBhai.com
To know more about using Market.Diamond.com for your business or service – read this post or give me call on my cell# 9869663539
Enough has been said about when Mumbai Diamond Market will move to Bandra Kurla Complex.
Remember “Paul – The Octopus” who was successful in predicting future of Football World cup (FIFA). We recently found out that Paul’s son “Junior Paul” also predicts future.
We wrote an email to owner of the Octopus and he told us that he would ask Junior Paul about where is future of Mumbai Diamond Market and below is the result:
I had a big shock of my life yesterday..
There is estimated 26 million Carat or more – Rough Diamonds in Mines right here …inside India
Did you spill your cup of tea???
Yes?? Clean it and read it again.. There is 26 Million Rough Diamonds in mines. And none other then Rio Tinto has license to mine it…
Google Map shows- “Rio Tinto Camp at Bunder Project”
Rio Tinto Camp Bunder Project
For further details google “Bunder Project” and you will find links to wikipedia and Rio Tinto India website giving all details. Economics times also mentioned Reliance groups interest in same area.
Recent Murder case of RTI (Right to Information) Activist – Shehla Masood – was protesting against mining of this same area. 25 July she filed RTI application and 16 August she was shot dead in bright day light. I want to end my post here..google and know more…
(we first shared information this Thursday in ‘DiamondBhai SMS Newsletter’. If you are still not subscribed to our free SMS newsletter, do it now – send a text message with your name to 9869663539)
(also best way to keep in touch with DiamondBhai.com website – visit our facebook page and hit ‘Like’ button. www.facebook.com/diamondbhai )
(visit market.diamondbhai.com – for Business-to-Business listing of Diamond & Jewelry products/services you want to sell or buy)
Diamond Bhai 
