Jewelers who captivate the world - Stories of amazing business acumen and beliefs

The world of jewelry is full of sparkling gemstones and the passion of the people who decorate them.

This time, I would like to introduce the stories of three jewelers who are active on the world stage and whom I have met over the past 30 years.

Their unique talents and unwavering beliefs had a great impact on my life.


1. The Man Who Manipulates Tahitian Pearls - Unconventional Strategies to Manipulate the Market

32 years ago, I met the president of a business partner. He was a person with unique talent and imagination even back then.

At the time, he was having trouble selling the Tahitian black South Sea pearls he had in stock. So he comes up with a bold strategy.

Surprisingly, they bought up all the Tahitian pearls on Cook Island, which is near Tahiti, and purposely bought them all at an exorbitant price.

Word of this spread quickly, and the price of pearls from Tahiti skyrocketed. The market price spread all over the world, and they were able to sell off their large inventory of Tahitian pearls at a much higher price than expected.

Common sense tells us that if you're buying in bulk, it's normal to buy at a very low price. However, he devised an unconventional business method that was based on the opposite idea, purposely buying at a high price, raising the market price in the area, and making money from the large amount of inventory he had.

I couldn't hide my surprise at his behavior.

Also, one day when he was recutting a diamond, he happened to notice a cross appearing inside the diamond.

"I'm thinking about registering this as a trademark. What do you think?"

He asked me that day. I was impressed by his interesting idea and replied, ``I think we should give it a try.''

This later became a diamond cut called cross four, which became a global brand.

What would normally be a coincidence and interesting event, he used his deep insight to turn it into a business.

He was truly an amazing talent.


2. Grasping the world from poverty - the fruit of sincerity and hard work

The founder of HK Export, one of the world's largest diamond companies, was born into a poor family in India and was never able to learn to read or write. Because of this, it was difficult for me to get a job, but since I could count, I got a job counting small diamonds.

However, because he was able to complete his work accurately and quickly, he was gradually recognized and given higher-level work.

He worked tirelessly to make it perfect, worked longer than anyone else, and by his efforts, he became independent around the age of 20 and grew his company year by year until it became one of the largest diamond companies in the world.

Because he achieved success from his humble beginnings, he has become a respected manager who treats and evaluates everyone fairly.

One day, he gave away 600 luxury cars to his employees as bonuses, which was widely reported and became known to people all over the world.

Since then, he has been revered as a hero in India because he gifted 600 people a house as a bonus and distributed the profits he earned to everyone.

When I visited his diamond-cutting factory, I was greeted by the founder himself, and one by one the people around him knelt at his feet and touched his feet, the highest form of respect in India.

I had never seen anything like that before, so I could see how much respect and respect they were receiving.


3. Strength of belief - The jeweler who refused to give a discount

I exhibited at the International Dubai Jewelry Show with a Hong Kong company 30 years ago, when no Japanese had yet entered the Dubai Jewelry Show.

He was very cautious and boarded the plane with his carry-on baggage, but he woke me up at around 3 a.m. to go to the bathroom and asked me to keep an eye on his suitcase, which was stored in the storage rack above.

It was pitch black, all the passengers were sleeping, and there was no way I could have opened the top shelf and stolen a small suitcase without knowing what was inside.

Since he asked me to do this with a serious look on his face, I thought that someone who is so careful must be someone who is unlikely to make a mistake.

At the Dubai show, my products sold well every day, but his products didn't sell at all, and his sales were zero for five days.

Since I was selling tens of millions of yen, I felt sorry for him, and on the last day, I desperately recommended his products to customers in order to help them sell even a little more.

However, it still didn't sell, and finally the music at the end of the show on the final day started playing.

As I was putting away my items, a customer came to see his expensive items.

He was away, so I served him, but since it was the last time, he asked me to give him a discount.

The customer's asking price was still enough to make a profit on his product, so he was very happy, thinking, ah, he finally sold it at the last minute.

However, when he returned, I was surprised by what he said.

I refused the discount.

It was my last chance, and it was my last chance to make good money and be rewarded for all the money, time, and effort I had put into coming to Dubai, but I turned it down. I was surprised. The customer has gone home.

Why? I didn't understand.

He said that he didn't want to sell it at that price because he worked hard to make it.

However, after working hard together in the heat, I felt that I could not refuse him.

However, when I had cleared more than half of the room, the customer returned again.

And the customer was stubborn.

Well, I said, ``I'm going to buy two bottles, so please give me a discount.''

I was so lucky, it was so good! I thought so.
However, he refused even this.
I was in disbelief.

But at last a miracle happened.

The customer got angry and said he would buy 3 bottles of this, this, and this.
It was an expensive item, costing around tens of millions of yen. So, for the first time, he gave them a small discount and sold them all.

In the bottom of the 9th inning, a miraculous reversal occurred that was more than just a home run with the bases loaded.

I have never before or since seen a sale with such strong conviction.

I thought that even after 100 years, I would not be able to imitate something like this.

At that time, I thought that such a person must have the strength to accomplish great things.
He later became a specialist in colored stones and became Hong Kong's No. 1 great jeweler, selling the highest quality jewelry made from some of the world's finest colored stones.

These stories are more than just success stories.

It is an irreplaceable treasure that teaches us the wonders of human talent, belief, and effort through the world of jewelry.