How to make money buying and selling gemstones
Tuesday 2 July I n ordinary life a customer with ready cash offering to pay a premium for a product would be feted by traders.
There is nothing ordinary about the exclusive world of diamond trading, however, and when Vashi Dominguez took his savings to the dealers of Antwerp, none of them would sell him their stones.
They'd ask me if anyone in my family was in diamonds and when I said no they'd show me the door. Eventually he found a Belgian dealer who was unable to resist a cash customer prepared to pay any price to get a foot in the door and this one transaction confirmed him as acceptable in the eyes of the other traders.
Dominguez, 34, had abandoned a law degree in to set up an electronics business before realising that his passion lay in diamonds.
The secret is in the buying, not the selling. The price depends on who you are and how much you know and since it's such a competitive market, negotiation skills are essential. He had already agreed with the Tenerife jewellers that they would purchase a certain quantity from him in return for exclusive deals and, once he had wooed wholesalers in Belgium and India, his business quickly grew.
I don't take no for an answer. The path to a dealership is not always so gruelling, according to James Riley, CEO of the Gemmological Association of Great Britain Gem-A and himself a sixth-generation gemmologist. He admits, however, that the sector can be incestuous and discriminatory. Or you can do a diploma through our association or our main rival, the Gemological Institute of America and start higher up, although experience is the only way of learning this business.
Dominguez reckons the joy of gemstones amply compensates for the toil of acquiring them and it was the hope of discovering something new and remarkable that fuelled him through the slog round global wholesalers.
There's so much social status attached to them that they become almost like brands. Despite the spectacular sums involved, it requires expertise to make riches out of diamonds.
Dominguez now sells direct to customers via an online shop and a viewing room in London's Covent Garden where customers can view the stock. He recommends that anyone wishing to sell diamonds on the high street starts as a dealer in order to build up the vital network of international contacts. Gem-A will help novices with lists of local members whom they can approach to gain experience and contacts.
It is not, however, a career for the faint-hearted. It's sheer persistence that can make the difference between success and failure in this business.
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How do I become a diamond trader | Money | The Guardian
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