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Russia
By Svetlana Shelest
Russia’s domestic jewelry industry is down by about 35 percent this year and there is a persisting overall downward tendency on the rough and polished market. Russia’s regions with developed jewelry and diamond industry sectors are now exploring new ways to support themselves during these economically challenging times. Yekaterinburg, Russia’s fourth largest city and capital of the Urals and Western Siberia, is home to many of the country’s leading jewelry manufacturers and brands, such as Carat, Ringo, Ural Jewelry Company and Juveliry Urala. It is also the traditional venue for one of the country’s major jewelry exhibitions, JUNWEX Yekaterinburg, which takes place twice a year. The region’s authorities, in cooperation with the Jewelers Guild of the Urals, are considering a proposal to organize specialized jewelry shopping and educational tours under the title “The Golden Ring of Yekaterinburg” for domestic and overseas visitors. These would include visits to the manufacturing sites and jewelry museums in a region that boasts centuries-old jewelry-making traditions. The idea is now in the negotiation phase with the country’s major travel agencies. “At this stage, we are developing the original concept,” said President of the Jewelers Guild of the Urals Andrey Yalunin. “We believe the tours will find their audience, as jewelers of the Urals are famed for their refined skills and successful artistic experiments with technologies that combine different precious metals and gems, many of which are sourced locally. Their products can be called the ‘high fashion’ of jewelry and will appeal to those who appreciate a sophisticated look and perfection in details.”
Yakutia, Russia’s number one diamond-producing region, known for its high-quality diamonds, is also discussing the possibility of running diamond tours to support the local industry, reported the republic’s presidential press service. Yakutian authorities have announced signing an agreement to that effect with Rostourism, the Russian Federal Agency for Tourism, a subdivision of the Ministry of Culture. The program is expected to achieve a profit if the visitors, in exchange for an organized trip and accommodations, will buy at least $3,000 worth of diamonds each. Yakutia’s annual tourist turnover is assessed at 150,000 people, but the experts believe that diamond tours may help double this number. A .5-carat DIF excellent cut diamond is available in the region at an average price of $4,500. EPL Diamond, the country’s leading polisher and diamond jewelry manufacturer and a long-standing ALROSA Alliance member, said it welcomes this measure and is working along this track. Deputy Executive Director of Brand Development Tuyaara Kychkina said that EPL recently launched a new project, the EPL Diamond Residence and Theater, providing a full range of VIP shopping services for large groups of visitors. “Our company’s mission is to help Yakutia’s diamonds win the hearts of people around the world,” she concluded.
At the recent Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Fair, Viktor Moiseikin, head of the Yekaterinburg-based Moiseikin Jewellery House, presented a novel line of jewelry pieces made with his proprietary diamond-setting technology. His invention was patented this year in both Russia and the U.S and is described by the inventor as producing the effect of “waltzing diamonds.” Moiseikin has developed a setting that secures each diamond at two points only — at the culet and at the center of the table. This technology both secures the diamonds and allows them to rotate gently around the axis created by the two points of contact. According to the company’s spokeswoman, Marina Gorbunova, this is the first patented jewelry invention for Russia in the past 100 years. She also reported that the diamond jewelry products featuring the new kind of setting were received with considerable interest in Asia.
Another invention, by Minsk-based Russian engineer Valery Baranov, seeks to revolutionize the method of creating an all-diamond look in jewelry that so far has been achieved using various techniques known generally as “invisible setting.” It is a trend that began with Van Cleef & Arpels’s serti mystérieux — mystery-set jewelry. To date, the only literally all-diamond jewelry piece with no metal support at all is the Swiss-based Shawish Genève’s 150-carat $70 million ring, which was laser-cut out of one enormous rough diamond in a painstaking process that took one year. Baranov’s technology, however, would offer a way to create all-diamond jewelry pieces with no metal support of any kind, at a fraction of the Shawish master ring’s price, by connecting regular-sized custom-cut diamonds. Rajesh Gandhi, general director of Moscow-based Choron Diamond, said, “This would definitely be a step forward from the invisible setting technologies and as such it would surely be of interest to both the Russian and global diamond jewelry markets. It would also open new horizons in the area of design and contribute to promoting diamonds to end customers.”Article from the Rapaport Magazine - December 2015. To subscribe click here.
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