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From Rough
to Radiance
Rosy Blue, run by diamantaire Dilip Mehta, is the largest diamond exporter in the country for the past 12 years. It now wants to complete the loop and offer Indians a one-stop diamond shop. Can its new A-Team pull it off?
By Rakesh K. Simha
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Dilip Mehta - Twinkling Star |
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You may never have heard of
Rosy Blue but that is perhaps because the man in charge of the company doesn't
really care to shout from the rooftops that it has been the largest exporter of
diamonds for the past 12 years. Or that one in every 25 diamonds in the world is
cut on its floors. Or even that in a highly incestuous trade, where even the
lowest employee belongs to the family, it is run by MBAs, several of them from
Harvard. Well, that is perhaps why, if there is one firm prepared to step into
the 21st century diamond trade, it is Rosy Blue, and if there is one man who
wants to make India reclaim its legacy in the jewellery trade, it is Dilip
Mehta.
A wiry man who speaks quickly and is as pre-occupied as a diamond cutter, Mehta
runs Rosy Blue, a $1.4 billion company that is considered the star among all the
companies in Antwerp, the world's diamond hub.
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Like all Indian-owned diamond companies, Rosy
Blue makes a tonne of money but what sets it apart from all others is that it is
run like a professional company. "We are unlike any other diamond company,"
Mehta says. "Although we are family-owned, 60 per cent of our staff is
non-family. No other diamond company has an HR division, we do. We appreciate
what we got from the family corporation, but we are a westernised company."
So why does he need all these pros who may tinker with a system that has worked
with clockwork precision all these decades? "At the end of the day we can't
produce smart children all the time," says Mehta. "Our luck might run out." And
so, he says, Rosy Blue works like a public company "so that we don't act ad
hoc". The company's philosophy is: bring in the best talent.
In 2003, Rosy Blue took a huge stride to complete the last loop of the diamond
trade when it hooked up with bridal clothing company Vera Wang to develop a
diamond jewellery line.
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With more than $300 million in diamond jewellery sales already from its New York
outlet, the move augurs a new dimension of trade for Indian diamantaires, along
with other alliances like the one Eurostar has formed with Hearts of Fire.
The company is now entering retail in a big way in India with the ORRA chain.
Says Vijay Jain, an MBA who has worked with some of the top retailing brands
like Barista and Café Coffee Day, and has been the CEO of Rosy Blue for the past
four years: "We are one of the few companies that offer Belgium diamonds in the
Indian market. And though our range starts at a modest Rs 3,000 we have diamonds
and jewellery where the price is on demand."
According to Jain, there are almost 37 brands of diamond jewellery in the
market. "Most of them are a 'Store-in Store', which means that they take shelf
space in bigger malls and shops. But ORRA as a brand wants to offer to its
customers a complete "diamond experience" and that is why we have our own
exclusive boutiques," explains Jain.
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The company has at present 22 exclusive
boutiques in the country and in the next three years it is planning to have 50
exclusive ORRA stores all over India.
There also seems to be a major PR exercise underway. Says Russell Mehta, COO,
India, "It does not matter whether a customer accounts for a tenth of our
turnover or a thousandth, they are regarded as the same regard and
consideration."
As a leading 'sightholder' and premier client of the Diamond Trading Company (DTC
is a division of the De Beers Group), Rosy Blue has the capabilities to realise
the needs of global markets and local customers. It is a key infrastructure
provider to businesses in the diamond and jewellery sectors, thriving on
interactive relationships with manufacturers, distributors and retailers alike.
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Jain : Shining forth |
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Rosy Blue's jewellery business is the final link completing
the chain from earth to high street. The group has a significant involvement in
jewellery manufacturing and distribution through local operations and Intergold,
the largest Indian exporter of diamond jewellery. Recently, Rosy Blue Fine has
been established as the group's high-end jewellery division in the US. Rosiblu,
Rosyblue's flagship jewellery brand, was launched in November 2003.
Rosy Blue began, though, like any other desi diamond outfit. Mehta's father Arun
Mehta was a smalltime diamantaire who came to Antwerp to buy diamonds from
Gembel's Kirtilal Mehta till the 1960s.
In 1973, he spun off Rosy Blue from B. Arunkumar and Co, which he had founded
with Bhanuchandra Bhansali. In the beginning, Rosy Blue was to be an
Antwerp-based satellite office for rough procurement and polished distribution.
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" ORRA as a brand wants to offer its customers a complete 'diamond experience' "
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However, by the mid-1980s, Rosy Blue had become a standalone
company headed by his youngest son Dilip, another departure from the usually
hierarchical Indian tradition. "Even in the family, there was a sort of
meritocracy," Dilip Mehta says.
It wasn't that he was any better than his brothers Arun and Harshad, but he was
deemed to have certain strengths and assets that were more suited to running the
operations out of Antwerp while they handled the Indian end.
It also collaborates with clients in developing new products and using new
technology, sharing both the risks and the rewards of new and innovative
ventures.
In addition to its relationship with De Beers' Diamond Trading Co, it also is a
customer of BHP, the owner of Canada's Ekati mine and a customer of other mining
companies as well. Today, the B. Arunkumar group has 700 personnel in office and
administrative positions and more than 50,000 staff in diamond processing and
jewellery manufacturing.
Rosy Blue clients range from the world's most prestigious brands to small,
speciality jewellery houses. They supply leading diamond manufacturers,
distributors and retailers in every part of the world with a comprehensive range
of diamonds-from the smallest polished stones, to single diamonds of the very
highest quality. Successful clients releationships are based on insights into
the specific needs and priorities of each client.
For over 40 years, the company's skill and knowledge have passed from generation
to generation, each driven by a passion for innovation and quality. In that
time, Rosy Blue has grown from a single workshop specialising in polishing small
diamonds to a global corporation at the heart of the diamond industry. The magic
of ORRA now twinkles like a million diamonds in the sky.
Click here to view the Interview with
Vijay Jain, CEO, Rosy Blue
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