After receiving more than $ 15 million in two rounds of financing since the company was founded in 2011, Internet jewelry merchant BlueStone.com has begun negotiations on obtaining financing worth $ 25 million, double the increase in personnel and increase in turnover three times from the current level of $ 18, 5 million over the next 12 months. In addition to three main investors - Accel Partners, Saama Capital and Kalaari Capital - the company managed to attract Ratan Tata, Indian businessman and chairman of Emeritus of Tata Sons. Electronic commerce in India is gaining momentum.
Gaurav Singh Kushwaha, CEO and founder of Bluestone.com, said: "The company will begin to generate revenue by 2017-2018 despite continuing investments in the development of our business." Our business model does not depend on the products that are located in stock, we create products and deliver them after we receive orders from customers.This is our difference from traditional jewelry stores that store a large quantity of goods.We run two jewelry collections per month and 20 collections per year compared to th with the traditional brands, which create a line of three products for three years. In addition, our collection of 3,500 unique jewelry at least two times more than in physical stores,
At the moment about 50 thousand buyers in India have used the services of BlueStone.com. To improve the user experience, the company opened product demonstration points in Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi. Also, a home-based fitting service was started, which is used every month by 150-200 customers.
"Usually, buyers who want to buy valuable jewelry, such as bracelets or necklaces, use our fitting service at home, which turned out to be very successful," Kushwaha said. The goal of BlueStone.com is the age group 25-35 years, 95% of all clients are women.

It is expected that this year the price for one ounce of silver will decrease due to the strengthening of the dollar and a decrease in investments in the extractive sector. At the same time, by the end of the year the cost of metal can grow, reports National Jeweler.
In an e-mail to the publication, London analyst and manager of the demand for precious metals at Thomson Reuters GFMS Andrew Leyland said that he expects the average price of silver to fall from about $ 19 per ounce last year to $ 16.50 in the current year.
"The main driver of silver prices this year will not be supply or demand, but the attractiveness of this asset class for investment companies," said Leyland. "We are seeing a further outflow of capital from the mining sector to equity and fixed income securities, and this , coupled with a strong dollar, gives the ground for a weakening of prices. "
The analyst added that Thomson Reuters GFMS expects a silver price increase by the end of the year for the whole dollar to $ 17.50 per ounce.
The London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) released a price forecast for 2015, according to which prices are also expected to fall to $ 16.76 per ounce of silver, which is only slightly higher than the values announced by Thomson Reuters GFMS in its forecast. At the same time during the year prices can range from $ 13.91 to $ 19.36 per ounce of silver.
Analysts named several key factors on which these forecasts are based. Among them - strengthening the dollar, reducing inflation and the slow growth of China and the Eurozone. All these factors lead to lower prices for precious metal.
At the same time, the decline in prices contributes to the increase in demand for jewelry made of silver. Thomson Reuters GFMS announces the beginning of a move away from the production of silver-plated items to the use of sterling silver.

This year, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) organized the Hong Kong Pavilion, which became the largest at BASELWORLD 2015 and represented 151 companies. In addition, the original jewelry brand CORONET became the first of such brands in Hong Kong, whose products were exhibited in the prestigious main hall of the exhibition. Visitors showed an unprecedented interest in the Hong Kong Pavilion, which featured products of 83 jewelry brands, 49 watchmaking companies, 9 watchmaking companies, and 10 packaging companies. Brands from Hong Kong presented the newest compositions and high-quality products, such as classic jewelry, elegant and sport watches.
Margaret Fong, CEO of HKTDC, said: "After 30 years of participation in the exhibition, we see that the Hong Kong Pavilion managed to raise the profile of our companies among international buyers." Thanks to a platform such as BASELWORLD, companies from Hong Kong can reach the audience of buyers as from Europe, and from around the world, as well as to establish new contacts in the business sphere. "
The sentiment of buyers this year was more conservative with respect to watchmaking compared to previous years, as more technology companies took part in BASELWORLD, although the smart watch was still the focus of the public's attention. Yip Siu-fan, Managing Director of Sun Tai Watch Co., Ltd. I am confident that, despite the instability in the global economy, establishing contacts with customers and exchanging business information turned out to be very useful for his company. He argues that an increase in demand for wearable electronics will spur demand for watch components. "We are creating a unique image of the brand in order to gain opportunities to conduct our business through effective modernization," Mr. Yip noted. Victor Chan, Managing Director of Continental Jewelery (Mfg) Ltd, is optimistic about the future of the Hong Kong watch and jewelry industry. "Watches and jewelry from Hong Kong are not far behind the world trends, they have a good price and an excellent design," he said. "We will continue to expand our product line and provide more opportunities for our European customers."
Jessica Kwan, director of Universal Jewelery Design Center Ltd., said that, due to the changing preferences of customers, her company will improve the flexibility of production to allow buyers the opportunity to choose unique products.

The Central Bank of China announced the simplification of the procedure for the import of gold into the country. Since April 1, foreign mining companies will be able to directly import precious metal into China. Recall that at the moment there is a rule in the country according to which only 15 banks have the right to import gold, because of which metal buyers in China pay a high commission to ensure the delivery of gold.
Local sources say that the new measure of the Central Bank will help reduce the mark-up on gold. In addition, there is expected to increase competition among traders, which will also entail a fall in prices for buyers.
However, representatives of the World Gold Council (WGC) argue that the new rules will not lead to a significant increase in gold imports, although they say the possibility of an increase in this indicator by 11% this year. This will happen due to the sale of stocks, accumulated back in 2013.

In Gemewizard announced the release of a new version of the program GemePrice 4.0, the latest generation system for the dynamic compilation of price-lists of colorless and colored diamonds, precious stones and jewelry.
Several new functions have been integrated into the new system, and existing elements have been modernized. They include modifiers for secondary colors in colored diamonds, an increase in the number of varieties of gems, an improvement in the jewelry station, which allows you to evaluate the entire piece of jewelry, as well as improving the quality of user experience thanks to a new user-friendly interface.
Like previous generations of the system, GemePrice 4.0 uses the same pattern of pricing for precious stones by codes that Gemewizard generates.
The system has been added new tools that are designed to improve the experience of its use. Among them is an application for color conversion that allows you to convert Gemewizard codes into the equivalent terminology of GIA, Munsell and CIE LAB systems.
"Our goal in creating GemePrice 4.0 was to improve the user experience and the accuracy of our program.Our team, teaming up with experts on fantasy colored stones, spent more than a year researching and creating a unique system of modifiers for secondary colors, as well as fine-tuning existing evaluation systems and color scales, "- said the founder of Gemewizard Menahem Sevdermish (Menahem Sevdermish).
He also noted that the cost of each stone is affected by many factors. However, the new GemePrice system greatly simplifies the process of measuring all these factors.
"This is a very important step in the future for the entire valuation system for precious stones and jewelry," concluded Sevdermish.

The World Gold Council (WGC) recommends China to increase gold reserves to at least 5% of foreign exchange reserves in order to help diversify the country's currency risks. Roland Wang, managing director of China's WGC division, believes that currently China's gold reserves, which constitute about 1.6% of the country's gold and currency reserves, are at a low level relative to the reserves of many developed and some developing countries. "Ideally, the amount of gold in foreign exchange reserves should be at least 5%," he said.
According to the Central Bank of the country, the last time China raised its gold reserves in April 2009, when they increased to 33.89 million troy ounces (about 1054 tons) from 19.29 troy ounces, and as of December 2014 the reserves remain at the same level. According to WGC, in the fourth quarter of last year, Mexico's gold reserves accounted for 2.4% of total foreign exchange reserves, in Australia this figure was 5.7%, in India - 6.7%, and in Russia - 12.1%.
Wang said that the WGC maintains constant contacts with the Chinese authorities, the Central Bank of the country and the Chinese Gold Association. "The increase in gold reserves will increase the confidence of investors during the period when China is trying to achieve the internationalization of the renminbi," added Wang.

The International Colored Gemstone Association (ICA) will take the necessary steps to educate a new and younger generation of members of the global color gemstone industry. At this step, the organization went after reducing the size of membership fees so that young participants could join the ranks of ICA members. In addition, the ICA said that the new initiative is part of the association's plans to encourage the participation of young people in international business events, including the ICA Congress, held every two years. As a result, the registration fee for junior participants was reduced from $ 900 to $ 250.
"We believe it is very important to support the young generation of gem professionals in attending our congress and other international events related to the color gemstone industry, and we want to see as many young participants as possible on these events," said ICA president Benjamin Hackman ) - There are a lot of excellent young participants in our association, and we want them to clearly understand the ICA work process and be able to participate in the development of the international industry of colored precious s stones. "
The ICA Congress will be held on May 16-19 in Sri Lanka. More than 400 members of the organization from around the world will take part in the event.
"Congress other ICA events provide an excellent opportunity for the leaders of the non-ferrous precious stones and jewelry industry to gather to share experiences and knowledge about the latest developments in this field, view presentations by experts on the latest trends and discuss them with colleagues from around the globe," concluded Hackman.

The demand for platinum jewelery is growing in the Indian market due to the fact that this precious metal is becoming cheaper than gold, local media reported. According to Indian retailers, demand for platinum jewelery has risen 20-25% in February and March this year, and this trend is likely to continue next month when the country begins the wedding season.
At the moment, the price of platinum is at $ 425.19 for 10 grams of metal, and the price of gold is $ 430 for 10 grams. At the same time, in the international market, platinum is trading at $ 1,150 per ounce, compared with $ 1,183 per ounce of gold.
Local retailers also argue that younger clients are educated, legible and aware of global trends. Platinum is considered to be the next generation metal. Young Indians are looking for new opportunities in design and jewelry metals, and are ready to go to experiments.
Samir Sagar of Manubhai Jewellers believes that price is not the determining factor in the growth in demand for platinum in India. "Previously, buyers could choose only platinum bracelets and rings and some other small ornaments.Now, thanks to a number of products from Evara, they have the opportunity to choose.We have been seeing a steady increase in demand for platinum jewelry in the last two or three months," concluded he.

In India there is a gradual increase in the premium for gold, the demand is increasing thanks to the upcoming Akshay Tritiya festival in April. According to local media reports, the price for the immediate delivery of gold in the Indian capital was approximately $ 5 higher than the London spot prices, although some publications cite data on the price increase of $ 2 in some locations. The gold market begins to intensify, as the jewelers begin preparations for the celebration. However, some experts have expressed concerns that off-season rains will have a significant impact on demand in rural areas of the country. This fact worries local jewelers, as the demand for jewelry from gold from rural residents reaches 60% of the total domestic sales.
In Mumbai, the demand for gold raised the premiums by $ 7-8 in anticipation of Akshaya Tritiya. This festival is considered one of the most favorable periods in order to present a gift of gold. According to experts, more than 60 tons of gold could be imported into the country in March and 55 tons in February to ensure demand on the eve of the festival.

The report, prepared by Edahn Golan Diamond Research & Data, clearly showed that consumers aged 25 to 34 spent 28% more on jewelry than the average household. In addition, young people under the age of 25 years increased the cost of jewelry by 100% in the period from 2003 to 2013.
"The report on the state of the US jewelry market contains unique information that was never before available to the diamond industry, and includes detailed demographic studies of who buys jewelry and what, and the cost of these purchases." In the study, we proved that today's 20-35-year-olds are the main demand for jewelry, "said Edahn Golan, global consultant to the diamond industry and author of the report.
Partly thanks to this trend, jewelry sales in the US rose 1.4% to $ 68.8 billion. Sales of watches were particularly successful, growing 7.7% to $ 9.13 billion. The average price of jewelry was a record $ 434 per household . However, despite the fact that demand for jewelry increased, experts observed a decline in the average price of jewelry purchased. Holiday Christmas sales of jewelry products also fell 1.2%, although they are now the main time frame for the sale of jewelry.
Diamonds are an important component of the jewelry business. They are offered not only as an engagement gift, but also used to replace stones lost from jewelry or to improve such luxury items. It is not uncommon for customers to change a diamond in their favorite jewelry, such as a ring, for a larger and beautiful stone.
In 2014, the US imported $ 24.16 billion worth of diamonds, the average price of stones was $ 2023 per carat. However, polished exports amounted to $ 20.93 billion.
With regard to the net import of diamonds, Israel's share was $ 9.25 billion in 2014. In second place is India with $ 7.68 billion, and on the third - Belgium, its share was $ 4 billion.
Thanks to the recovery of the US economy, consumers plan to buy more premium segment products. The natural choice in this case are jewelry, and the increased demand for them means that this trend continues even now.
Completely with the report of Edan Golan can be found here .