Hearts on Fire yesterday announced that they are closing accounts at more than 120 retail stores in what they describe as being “underperforming accounts”.

Hearts on Fire founded in 1996, markets itself as being home to “The World’s Most Perfectly Cut Diamond,” and the brand prides itself on creating a lifetime relationship between customers and Hearts on Fire jewelers.

Hearts on Fire is sold in 34 countries, including the USA, UK, Asia and the Caribbean.

Many of you will recognize the name Glen Rothman as the guy who almost single handedly built his ideal diamond brand called Hearts On Fire Diamonds into a company of international repute.

Glen and his team have developed and refined a tremendous brand identity which allows them to sell their beautiful diamonds at (astronomical) prices far more expensive than equally precise and beautiful diamonds without the label.

So how exactly was Glen able to create and cultivate a market of eager consumers who would spend 30k on a Hearts on Fire Ideal Cut Diamond, when they could spend 10k on an equally beautiful and precisely cut ideal cut diamond of similar specifications, without the label??

In a recent article in one of the diamond industry’s insider magazines, I was able to get a bit of insight.

A retail jeweler who carries the Hearts On Fire Diamond Brand was interviewed for the article and talked about receiving a book from Glen Rothman one year as a token of appreciation for completing a significant number of sales.

The personalized message from Glen Rothman on the inside jacket cover indicated that this book was a source of inspiration which helped guide and mold his vision for the Hearts on Fire Diamond brand.

The name of this book?

The Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell.

Moral of this blog entry?

Read this book (and maybe work a bit harder while you’re at it and you too can become a successful entrepreneur!

Though Marcel Tolkowsky defined the parameters of an ideal-cut diamond when he penned his 1919 thesis “Diamond Design”, that industry benchmark-synonymous with the Tolkowsky name-had never been fully branded until very recently.

Marcel Tolkowsky, Inventor of the Ideal Cut Diamond.

Late last year Marcel Tolkowsky’s heir, Jean Paul Tolkowsky, introduced his new Signature diamond brand he is calling “Cut by Tolkowsky”.

This signature collection of ideal cut diamonds fuses the famed family surname to the hearts and arrows ideal cut.

Although these diamonds are typical (albeit beautiful) ideal cut diamonds which are available all over the internet and retail stores at a fraction of the asking price for a similar “cut by Tolkowsky” ideal cut diamond (which is almost as prohibitively expensive as a branded “Hearts on Fire” ideal cut diamond), Jean Paul is banking on his family name recognition to bridge the gap ($$) for his expensive ideal cut diamonds.

Indeed, no other family is identified with an ideal-cut diamond more than Tolkowsky, so the company which sells its ideal diamond in about 20 independent stores is hoping to capture some market share. They will also be providing a certificate of authenticity for every diamond attesting to its origin being of conflict-free sources; a topic very important to today,s consumers.

We wish them the best of luck!

This is one of a series of postings discussing different diamond companies manufacturing a “signature” or “branded” ideal cut diamond.

The Eightstar diamond is a beautiful (albeit extremely expensive) ideal cut loose diamond which is sold and marketed through various bricks and mortar jewelry stores accross the country.

The Eightstar Diamond Company

The Eightstar diamond company promotes and sells their beautiful (albeit extremely expensive) ideal cut diamonds by showcasing an Eightstar diamond’s diamond light performance via a metric called the Firescope.

Diamond Cut / Beauty Evaluator – Firescope

The Firescope

The Firescope is a light-mapping instrument invented by a Tokyo diamond dealer in 1984. It uses simple colorcoding to show whether – or how – a diamond is leaking light.

The Firescope looks unassuming: a small metal box with an eyepiece. But the mechanism is extraordinary. A diamond is slid between a light source, below, and the eyepiece, above. There are red reflectors in the eyepiece. Any light reflecting through the crown and table is reflected back – but in red.

Red light means light reflection, but white light – which can’t have reached the reflector – means light leakage. The amount of red and white light indicate a diamond’s potential brilliance and the quality of its cut. A diamond with no light leakage will present an image without any white.

The Firescope was first introduced as an observation tool to help jewelers buy the most beautiful diamonds. What the instrument showed repeatedly, however, was that almost all diamonds leaked light, often badly. Even the Ideals.

Are Eightsar Diamonds Worth The Premium?

While Eightstar branded diamonds are assuredly beautiful ideal cut diamonds, the question of whether they are worth the significant premium over similar quality ideal cut diamonds and even competing ‘branded’ ‘signature’ ideal cut diamonds at far lower prices, is one only the consumer can answer.

Certainly there is as much psychology and emotion in the diamond buying process, as there are rational and practical considerations.

I would imagine many people let their emotions take over and will pay a premium for the Eightstar diamond. To these people, the Eightsar Diamond is not “expensive” at all.

Others, will go with the rational and practical approach and will purchase an unbranded ideal cut loose diamond, or even a different ideal cut diamond brand of similar quality and beauty for much less money. These people will be happy in the knowledge that they did not have to pay an exorbitant premium in order to get the finest cut ideal diamond that money can buy.

The bottom line is that there is no “right answer”, only the one that works for you, personally.