Sunday, June 20, 2010

Why buy Certified Diamonds from Kathana Jewellers?

Since we launched our diamond module online we have had many mails, phone calls and walks in pour in with one specific question: "Why should we buy certified diamonds from you?". We decided that it would be a great idea to address this question in our blog here.

There are a multitude of reasons why you should buy from us, but here are the top 5 objective reasons why shopping for certified diamonds at Kathana is the best value for money:

1. We are based out of India: Around 90% of the raw diamonds are cut and polished in India. These diamonds are then certified from labs such as GIA, IGI etc. and then shipped world over. Since every time a diamond travels, over heads such as transportation, custom duties, taxes, insurance etc. add on, the price of the diamond goes up too. We save you money on all these over heads by selling the diamonds from India.

2. Inventory Less Model: We follow a unique inventory less business model. That is, apart from a few sample pieces we do not stock any diamonds with us. This means that a large chunk of the overheads that goes into maintaining an inventory (and trust us, that is a huge figure)is nullified. Lower overheads means that we can pass on the price benefit to you and thus provide you a diamond at the best prices.

3. We are present Offline : If you are skeptical about purchasing online, you are most welcome to visit us in our store. We are not a virtual store. We have a brick and mortar presence,and we have been in this business for half a decade now. And unlike virtual stores we give you the option to come and inspect your purchase before you make the final payment for it.


4. We offer the BEST prices: Our financial experts have worked really hard on our business model to make sure that our prices are unbeatable. Most of the time, they are. Most of the online stores that sell certified diamonds also share the certificate number for the diamond. We strongly encourage you to search our diamond data base using the certificate number (top right corner at http://www.kathana.in/classicDiamondSearch.php) of your shortlisted diamond and compare the prices. You will realize that we provide the exact diamond at lower prices.

5. Being Small is A Blessing: While we are striving hard to grow bigger, we realize that being a small store is a blessing too. The best advantage is that we work with our customers on 1-on-1 basis. This gives us the opportunity to practice the highest standards in customer service. In addition being a team of young and dynamic people we are much more flexible, transparent and approachable.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Certified Diamonds Are Value For Money

Contrary to the common misconception many people carry, certified diamond are actually more reasonable than non-certified diamonds. There is a slight complexity in understanding this, but let me try and explain as best as I can.

Let us say that you are out to buy a specific diamond: Round Brilliant Cut, 1 Carat, G Color, VS1 Clarity, Excellent Cut, Excellent Symmetry and Excellent Polish.

If you were to buy a GIA/IGI certified diamond you would be paying, say $7500 upwards. Now you go to your local jeweler and ask him to give you a non-certified diamond of exact specifications. He quotes you an unbelievable price of say $6500. That is a saving of $1000 and the perfect reason to go with the uncertified diamond. Right? Unfortunately not. Lets see why.

The first thing you should ask your self is "How can I be confident that the diamond meets up my specifications (1.0 Carat, G, VS1, Ex, Ex, Ex)?"

Usually, the gemologist expert in the store will convince you hard that the diamond is indeed what it is said to be, and diamonds and gold are bought on trust (something we have been hearing for a century now).Since many of us are not trained enough to judge a diamond we would go by what the "expert" has to say, and buy our diamond on trust. Now lets say that you make the purchase and at some point in future decide to get your diamond certified by one of the top labs like GIA or IGI. Most most likely the diamond will be under-graded by the lab, that is, it is going to be inferior in at-least one of the many criterions.

Lets assume that in our case the color of the diamond on the certification report turns out to be an H instead of a G. So now your diamond actually is a 1.0 Carat, H color, VS1 Clarity, Excellent Cut, Excellent Symmetry and Excellent Polish diamond. But what if you were to purchase a certified diamond of the same specifications? It would cost you in the vicinity of $6000.

So unfortunately the "deal" wasn't really a deal, you actually paid what you would pay for a certified diamond of that quality. And that is the point we are trying to make here: Certified diamonds at Kathana Jewellers are just as cheap if not cheaper than non-certified diamonds. Our unique business model allows us to keep over head charges to bare minimum and end up saving you anywhere from 25 to 40% on diamonds. In addition you have a complete peace of mind that your diamond is authentic and is judged by the industry experts.

Side Note: Always insist on certified diamonds. In case you decide to buy an uncertified diamonds insist on getting it certified from a TOP LAB like GIA/IGI. It just costs you a small fraction (Rs. 2000 or so) of your investment, and most jewellers can get it done if they want. And once you have the certification report compare your prices with certified diamonds of the same specifications.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

AU Finja Bangles at Kathana Jewellers

A look at this video will rest your doubts as to why AU Finja bangles are a rage this summer at our store. Let's spell some magic....Click on play.




In case the video wont play here . Please visit our Youtube channel and play it directly there. Apparently it needs a little prodding for the video to play :)

Friday, June 11, 2010

Engagement Ring Designs:A peek into whats new.



Remember every time you sighhhed at a gorgeous looking ring in a High profile store and said to yourself that : You can't afford this. Well not anymore.
Tis the marriage season and we know a lot of you out there are looking for a great engagement ring for yourself or for your would be bride. Lets say your search ends here at Kathana Jewellers. In 2 weeks time we are bringing an exquisite variety of rings with impeccable finish to the store.

We have tied up with vendors who supply the exact same rings you will find at some of the High profile stores in Delhi. Except that the prices are a lot smarter with us. With the option of choosing your own center diamond( you do know about the online inventory of thousands of certified diamonds at Kathana....right? where certified diamonds from GIA and IGI start at Rs,5700 only. Here take a look , Certified Diamonds) the rings will be as affordable as you want. So Don't burn a hole in your pocket and stop sighhhhhhh....ing. You can now afford them.

Oh BTW, our Neptune Bangles and Sound of Jewels Collection are also a smart buy considering the same things at the high end stores are outrageously expensive.

The ring in the picture is actually available in store

Summers are officially here!!!

The Hot Indian Summer was already here since April but they have just arrived at Kathana. We have redone our look at the store. Take a look at the few pics below. The entire show windows and jewellery displays are done in Blue and Pink. We have gone for a cool blue look which is a respite from the bright yellow sun outside.




All the credit for the relook goes to Sarvesh and Sheila our creative salesperson. They did a fabulous job.Earlier too when they did a new look for the winters. 3 cheers to them.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

NavBharat Times Plagiarises content from our website/blog.


This Sunday dated 6th June 2010 my father noticed a good news article in the Hindi newspaper Navbharat Times and bought to our attention. The article was titled " Jewellers par nahin, Hallmark par karen bharosa". It is well intentioned article by all means after all its educating customers and yes whatever they wrote in the article was what we have also been advocating for long. They even used a bangle image to help illustrate the point as shown above.

Except for one thing they broke the fundamental rules of journalism. The image used isn't theirs and they haven't credited the source of the image. The photo was taken by Aditya of Kathana Jewellers around 2 years back. It is used in our website and the blog to illustrate various aspects including "How to identify hallmark jewellery".
They just copied it. Period. We looked for some credit which we should have got after all our website clearly mentions that all the work is copyrighted. We couldn't find any.

The damage has been done atleast on 1 count.They chose to ignore giving the credit where its due. A lot of effort and planning ( even money) goes into conceptualizing and writing articles on this blog. They simply chose to ignore that. On another count they have trashed the ethics book by whom journalists are sworn to.

For us the battle is now finding the editor's contact and getting him to acknowledge the mistake. In any case they will simply issue a small write up tucked in a corner of the paper acknowledging our copyright over the image.

Ethics is not just a byword and especially not in the field of journalism. Where millions of readers can be influenced. Journalists cannot be judgemental in delivering news, nor can they choose to ignore the source of their information. By lifting the content from our website/blog Navbharat Times has set a bad example and we are going to fight it.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Neptune Bangle Collection...Latest Trends for 2010

The latest Gold Bangle collection to hit Kathana Jewellers.
Sheer Poetry in Gold. Will make you fall in love.
........Without raising an eyebrow.