8th September 2020: It is said that jewellery represents a symbol of prestige, power, and wealth. Moreover, ornaments have the potential to enhance women’s beauty and help in bringing out the best features for the right occasion. Stylish women swear by wearing necklaces, bangles, and earrings.
Some women prefer big, bold, and dazzling jewellery and some like it small, elegant and minimal type look. But one common hurdle everyone faces is to find good quality and to get pure diamond jewellery which fits their budget.
Do you remember when the last time you had to compromise on the quality of the jewellery due to the pricing factor, or let’s make it simple that how often you miss your favourite jewellery pieces due to the high cost? Quite often, I would say. One more grave issue lies in the lack of knowledge in the customers’ about identifying purity and quality of diamond pieces because merchants usually take advantage of the customers and charge hefty sums from them for low-quality diamonds. This issue was observed and analysed by a Bangalore based diamond jewellery startup called Ramko DIamonds founded in the year 2018. They addressed this situation by providing high-quality and pure diamond jewellery at a range of prices which can help the buyers pick up best jewellery as per their budget. With an aim to provide transparency in the business, Ramko DIamonds provides quality assured certified gold and diamond jewelry pieces. Now, let us know the eventful journey of founders of Ramko DIamonds – Radhika and Sampath Raj.
How This Journey Started
Ms Radhika Sampath hails from a Jain family which was into hardware business. She was brought up in a business family therefore, unknowingly had subconsciously imbibed a lot of business sense and secret trades to run a business. In terms of her education, she had graduated in commerce stream that helped to understand profit making statistics and improved her accountancy skill.
As a nature-loving and creative person, Ms. Radhika Sampath was always inclined towards jewelry designing. Her dream came true when she married Mr. Sampath Raj, who was running a jewelry store, Rushabh Jewellers in Bangalore, and soon enough, she found a way to pursue her interest in jewelry designing by assisting him in bringing new designs for gold and diamond jewelry.
As Radhika started to spend most of her time studying more about diamonds and jewelry designing, her creative ideas helped in bringing more customers and increased their business.
Over a few years, Her hobby for designing diamond jewellery turned into professional, and this led to the birth of Ramko DIamonds.
Ramko DIamonds was launched to foray into the digital space by bringing up an e-commerce platform for Rushabh Jeweller and to reach out to the customers who love buying products online. The sole motive to come up with an online store was to provide a platform for the customers where they can buy genuine and most impressive diamonds with a lot of trust.
Regarding experience, both Radhika and Raj Sampath both have vast experience and expertise in the diamond jewelry segment and have mastered the 4’C – Cut, Color, Clarity, and Carat.
In a candid interview with this entrepreneur couple we discovered more about their journey as well as their future plans for Ramko DIamonds.
What was the Motto, Vision, And Mission Of Ramko DIamonds
With an underlying philosophy of 3P’s – Pure, Perfect, and Precious Ramko DIamonds, envisions to be one of the leading and most trusted online diamond jewelry portals in the country. We want to get top of the mind brand recall.
Why Diamonds Are Considered As Girl’s Best Friend
Well, The expression comes from a light-hearted song “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend,” sung by Marilyn Monroe. Diamonds are the most popular gemstone loved by women and are also the symbol of steadfast love. A girl’s best friend finds symbolic expression in the idea of the diamond. “A diamond is forever,” so say those advertisements for diamonds, the female being quietly embraced by the man she is either engaged or married to. Her ring indicates lifelong friendship with the companion.
When they launch a new collection, Ramko DIamonds want women wearing the piece to feel awesome and fall in love with what they are wearing. When they begin a new group, they always keep women’s respect as a critical factor in their collection. The main idea was to make jewelry to make women feel exclusive, fashionable, confident, and, most importantly, happy.
Can You Check Purity Of Diamonds – Yes, You Can – Here Is The Secret
The purity of diamonds can be checked through 4 C’s – Cut, Color, Clarity, and Carat. Each of the C’s is graded on a scale and can be evaluated for quality. Gradings of the 4 C’s help determine the value of a diamond and indicate its condition. Diamond sellers often set their prices based on grading reports.
The founder, Mrs. Radhika Sampath, noticed that many diamond merchants were taking undue advantage of customer’s ignorance by selling them low-quality diamonds for a higher price.
She felt transparency in the business was much required, and authentication certificates should be provided for every diamond purchased. Also, she started educating and spreading awareness about the quality and pricing of diamonds amongst customers.
All our products are hallmarked in terms of purity, and diamonds are certified by third-party labs like GIA / IGI / SGL. The certification can also be checked online on their website.
Why Should I Choose Ramko DIamonds
When there are so many diamond stores in the market, why should one prefer to buy from Ramko DIamonds? There are two factors, one is quality, and another is affordability.
Ramko DIamonds do have many competitors in the industry, and many of them have been early entrants in the market like Bluestone, Caratlane, and jewelsouk.com . However, they have a major differentiating factor, that is their pricing and buyback policy, which is far better and transparent from others in the industry.
They are confident that with their unique proposition and the eternal purity of diamonds, Ramko DIamonds will outshine others and will make it stand out in the market.
Mr. Radhika and Raj Sampath acted as Entrepreneurs and Startup Founders.
Life as A Startup Founder
At present work-life balance is maintained when Radhika saw good progress of work and achieving more and more growth. Her work has not affected my family and social life and how much she values them; they have been incredibly supportive of her decision and encouraged me to do better work. During her leisure time, Radhika spent time with my family and friends and also voluntarily participated in social causes. But both the founders also face challenges as entrepreneurs.
Challenges Faced During The Journey
The most challenging part was to kick start the project, as it looked easier as a concept on paper, but when it comes to executing the idea practically, it gets quite complicated. Also, when they kept up the momentum of growth. Also, finding the right resources is very challenging. Successful entrepreneurship is undoubtedly a complex phenomenon.
Internal and external factors impact on business performance. There are so many factors like Consumer purchase behaviour, market trends, Suppliers, Banks, Government Support agencies, etc. However, the critical threats are fierce price competition by competitors and attaining the trust of customers with constant brand-building efforts.
How COVID 19 impacted on the diamond business
Given the spread of the virus, quarantines, and declining economic conditions, it was inevitable that the demand for luxury items such as diamonds would fall. COVID-19, which took a pandemic shape this March, has wholly stalled the Indian gem and jewelry trade. This industry has come out of every crisis more resilient, and this time it would take longer to find the new normal, which could be about 20% below the pre-corona level in value terms. According to Radhika and Sampath, one needs to stay positive and keep looking at improving business in the best possible manner.
The Road Ahead – Beyond Metro Cities
On the concluding note, Ramko DIamonds is working towards reaching the target of covering over 12 cities and to add more than 2500 additional designs to their existing 1000 plus design collection. They are also aiming to reach the annual turnover to 100 crores. Additionally, the company has launched customer support live chat service to assist its customers efficiently and instantly.
After this insightful article about Ramko DIamonds, I wish all the best for future endeavors.
