Selected as one of the first class of students to be sent to HRD Antwerp by the Chinese government to learn about diamond and diamond industry, Zhang Feng is highly qualified in the intricacies of all matters concerning diamond and the diamond industry.
With more than 30 years of experience in the diamond industry now, Zhang Feng has worked in all stages, right from an ordinary worker, technician and so on, to reach the stage of a manager and later as a production director.
Having honed his professional skill and talent for 30 years, Zhang Feng went on to invent the creative diamond cutting-- "81 Facets 10 Hearts & Arrows", which is patented in China, Japan, Europe, Korea, India, Israel and 100 more countries.
In the year 2014, Zhang Feng established 'ALLOVE' along with the company's President Lin Chang Wei, leading to the branding of '81facets 10 Hearts & 10 arrows'.
In a Q&A session with Rough & Polished, Zhang Feng takes us along his journey in the diamond industry for last 30 years, reminiscing the days gone by...
Some excerpts:-
When was the company Shenzhen Perfect Love Diamond Co., Ltd incorporated and what growth rate have you witnessed to date? What was the company's turnover in the year 2017?
Our company Shenzhen Perfect Love Diamond Co., Ltd was established in March 2014. We have been growing consistently year on year and starting year 2017 the growth rate has increased by 100% every year. The company earned a revenue of about $100 mn during 2017.
Is your company into diamond cutting and polishing and jewellery manufacturing as well? Can you briefly run us through both the activities of the company? Also, throw some light on the company's unique 'diamond cutting -- "81 Facets 10 Hearts & Arrows"-- for which it is popular.
I am one of the partners/investors of our company who is engaged in diamond cutting and polishing, and the other partner Lin Changwei, who is engaged in jewellery manufacturing has more than 30 years of experience. The ALLOVE Hearts & Arrows diamonds brought us together and founded Shenzhen Perfect Love Diamond Co., Ltd., a brand for high-quality diamond jewellery.
ALLOVE Ten Hearts ＆ Ten Arrows Diamond was born in Antwerp, Belgium. Its technological feature is that the external presents 81 facets, and a structure of ten hearts and ten arrows inside. It eliminates the light leakage area of normal cutting diamond, achieves total refraction of colour light and the brightness is increased by 50% compared to ordinary diamond.
ALLOVE Ten Hearts ＆ Ten Arrows Diamond achieved major technological breakthroughs in diamond cutting in 2013. It’s finished developing the unique cutting technology which allowed the 81-facet diamonds to present the symmetrical “ten-heart-ten-arrow” structure. GEMEX, the famous professional diamond shining appraisal institution around the world, tested ALLOVE perfect love diamonds. In accordance with test data, ALLOVE perfect love diamonds reach the highest level of “VERY HIGH” in three indexes, “brilliance”, “fire” and “sparkle”. The founder of the institution, Randall Wagner, emphasized further: diamonds whose three indexes reach “HIGH” level only account for 0.15% in the diamond tests, and diamonds whose three indexes present the “VERY HIGH” -level cutting technology are absolutely the top level in the global diamond cutting technology field.
It is said that your company's brand is making waves in many associate companies in other countries. How does it work out? Please give details. How are your products promoted in the respective countries? More details, please.
1. Belgium (DIVA Museum cooperation)
Based on the long-term friendship and cooperation between ALLOVE and Belgium, diamond economic and trade exchanges are an important part of bilateral relations. Since 2017, ALLOVE has vigorously promoted the cutting culture of the 81 facets Ten Hearts & Ten Arrows Diamonds in all aspects and signed a cooperation agreement with the DIVA Museum in Belgium to sponsor the transformation and upgrading model of the DIVA Museum to further enhance the Sino-Belgium cultural exchange and in-depth cooperation. During the process, ALLOVE actively integrated the resources of both parties and brought into full play their respective advantages. It vigorously promoted the export of Belgian diamond culture and art, and domestic and foreign media rushed to report on it, creating a better trading environment and more development opportunities for the Belgian diamond industry and promoting Belgian diamonds. Culture has made important contributions to the popularity of China.
2. Singapore, Malaysia（SK Jewelry）
Singapore SK Jewelry, as the exclusive agent of ALLOVE, the famous Singaporean movie star Xu Bin, as the overseas brand friend of ALLOVE Singapore， in December 2017, SK and Xu Bin delivered the brand culture of ALLOVE with perfection and creating perfectionism with their own love story. The symbol, with celebrity rally and store synergy celebrity effect blessing stores and product lines, taking advantage of the Internet, using WeChat and other social media forces to attract more consumers to shop experience.
How many company outlets do you have currently in China and how many overseas? Any plans to expand further into other diamond/jewellery consuming market? Do you expect the current trade war between US and China negatively affect your business? Your thoughts...
Since its development in December 2015, ALLOVE retail network has covered five countries and has totally 417 authorized sales outlets, and has brand showrooms in Henan, Jiangsu, Shaanxi, Shanxi and Sichuan.
In the future, ALLOVE will further expand the Class A business districts in the second-tier and third-tier cities in China and lock in cities with the fastest growing GDP, planning to expand 100 new stores.
At present, China is the country with the strongest growth in demand and consumption of jewellery in the world. If the import and export trade is adversely affected, it is time for us to further develop domestic consumption demand.
Any expansion programs in the offing? What are your plans for the future, say 5 years down the line?
The global market is the company's active exploration and development direction. In the next five years, the company aims to become a world-renowned international jewellery brand and a well-known Chinese jewellery company.
The company has established more than 50 offline marketing online stores in Singapore, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Dubai and local partners. The next step will be to expand the market coverage in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Among them, the United States has the largest market for jewellery in the world, and it will also be a key development direction for us in the next five years.
We hope that after 5 years in the world's major jewellery consumer countries can see our ALLOVE brand, provide better products and services for the local, and take a solid step for Chinese jewellery to go abroad.
Are the company products, both loose diamonds and jewellery available on e-commerce platforms? How successful is your online-businesses, if any? What's your opinion on e-retailing jewellery as a viable business?
On the e-commerce platform, the company’s finished diamond ornaments are displayed. Currently, they are sold in ALLOVE Jingdong Official Flagship Stores and WeChat Official Malls. The sales of loose diamonds have not been put on the shelves. The main products are jewellery and jewellery sales. The future will be based on market demand.
At present, the online business mainly complements and interacts with downline channels. At present, online sales of jewellery products are at the initial stage. Online users are highly sensitive to prices and are not conducive to the sale of high-end jewellery products. The most important is the lack of a real user experience. Judging from the current technology, it is still difficult to replace the offline channels. However, in the future, personalized online services can effectively handle different user needs in the form of customized services. In addition, the new retail O2O combined with the micro distributor distribution model ALLOVE is also in progress. We believe that in the near future we will see our company’s new digitization. The marketing service platform brings new services and experiences to users.
What is the current scene in terms of diamond jewellery demand from the millennials in China, given that other luxury items are vying for a piece of their purchasing power? What steps are you taking to keep millennials interested in diamond jewellery?
Demand status:
Diamonds are what the millennial generation yearns for and desires for. It is more expressed as emotional connections, including the diversified needs of diamond ornaments for emotional sublimation.
Millennials in China are mainly distributed in the second and third tier of the consumer boom market. Their main preferences and values show their emotional appeal to diamonds. They believe that there is a sense of sacred ritual. The main manifestations of the pursuit of ritual are: Most of them have a heart with the pursuit of the same with the stars.
The demand for products is also becoming more and more specialized, and the pursuit of quality products is more intense. At the same time, there is a greater demand for the stimulating experience of jewellery stores and high-quality services.
Measures:
1. Create a sense of ritual, they believe that the purchase of a wedding diamond ring has become just a need; in addition, the anniversary of marriage has become an important moment in gift giving.
2. Make reasonable use of celebrity recommendations and use brand names to quickly increase brand awareness and favorability.
3. Giving customers a professional brand image, especially showing proof of diamond quality is of crucial importance.
4. Choose the second-tier and third-tier cities' A-level business districts to sink channels, and the store is a guarantee of consumer confidence.
5. Improve display and supporting facilities to provide differentiated member enjoyment.
With China's economy growing by leaps and bounds, what level of growth are you looking at for China's diamond and jewellery industry in the next few years?
Looking forward to the future, China's diamond and jewellery industry will have great potential in the future. Starting from 2013, diamond jewellery consumption continues to grow by more than 10%.
In 2017, the number of marriage registrations in China was 12 million pairs, and more than 11 million diamond rings were consumed.
The sales volume in the Chinese jewellery market reached 650 billion yuan, of which diamonds and K gold accounted for 20%.
In 2018, the estimated consumption will exceed 64 billion, and in 2023 there will be an opportunity to realize 100 billion.
Aruna Gaitonde, Editor in Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough & Polished
