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September 25, 2007
Diamonds in cyberspace
Louise Bagshawe is a best-selling British author who has just crossed over to the American market with “Sparkles,” a terrific page-turner set in the world of Paris diamond merchants.
When Bagshawe’s heroine Sophie Massot and her partner Hugh Montfort are forced out of their own business, the duo shocks everyone in Paris by starting a new company without a fancy address — the city’s first internet diamond shop.
“Hugh had simply done an end run around the whole logistical nightmare,” Bagshawe writes. “He sold his broches and rings online. Not a dime in rent, not a cent in salary. It was pure profit.”
I had no sooner finished the book than I heard from old pal Patty Freedman — who along with her husband Andrew moved their Connecticut public relations firm from Connecticut to Los Angeles — that her client Brian Gavin has been operating a successful online diamond business called Whiteflash.com.
Whiteflash has succeeded in getting its diamonds photographed on a wide array of stars from Chloe Sevigny and Lindsay Lohan to Missy Elliott.
Freedman hooked me up with Gavin on the phone from the Houston headquarters of his business and he said internet shopping has become such an integral part of American culture that clients now enjoy purchasing luxury goods from the comfort of their homes.
“I think in some ways we’re held more accountable, because the customer knows we’re on the other end of a phone call or email,” Gavin said.
“Of course, there is a certain trepidation, but that dies away and ultimately you gain trust,” he said.
Because communication between a merchant and customer on the internet is free of the emotional factor of browsing in a shop, both parties know better where they stand in a transaction.
The Whiteflash website is packed with information that is designed to educate shoppers before they order anything. “The whole idea was not just to sell jewelry but to educate,” Gavin pointed out.
“Our goal has been to project Whiteflash as THE authority on diamonds on the internet,” he added.
“We want to take all of the fear out of what should be one of the most enjoyable times of your life,” he said of the give-and-take between customers and designers over the internet before a final decision is made on a special occasion purchase.
The fiction of “Sparkles” has been made real by Whiteflash.
Posted by Joe on September 25, 2007 11:47 AM
Comments
I recently purchased a three stone princess cut diamond ring that I had Whiteflash custom create. Brian spent more than two hours educating me about diamonds and the clear difference between their diamonds and those in the brick & mortar stores. Choosing Brian and Whiteflash as my jeweler was without question a very comfortable, "no brainer" decision. I had spent several months browsing through various jewelry stores, listening to high pressured sales people who possess a mere fraction of Brian's knowledge and expertise. Yet, ironically, I spent considerably less for what I feel is a superior product compared to that offered in chain stores.
Jason
Houston, TX
Posted by: Jason Lockwood at October 2, 2007 4:33 AM
