Rahesh Sutariya is the Managing Partner of Limpid Star. With over 12 years of experience in the diamond industry, Rahesh's passion for business is contagious. After completing his MBA in Marketing & Finance, he worked as the Head of Sales for a multinational diamond company, traveling to various Asian countries.
In 2020, he started Limpid Star with his partner, bringing his expertise to the table. Rahesh's dedication to his customers is evident in his belief that customer relationship is key to success. He and his team strive to ensure customer satisfaction and are always looking for new ways to innovate. He always looking for something new when it comes to jewellery design concept and different diamond shape.
Here, in an Exclusive Interview with Rough & Polished, Rahesh Sutariya expresses his plans for the future of 'Limpid Star' with a clear-cut decision to stick to natural diamonds only!
Some excerpts…
For the benefit of our readers, can you take us through your company’s journey and achievements over the years, from inception till date?
Limpid Star is a name that has been in the making since 2016, when I stumbled upon the word "Limpid" on a water bottle in Thailand at the time of meeting with customer. Fast forward to March 2023, and Limpid Star has added another feather to its cap with the opening of our Hong Kong office.
Our guiding principles of trust, integrity, and ethics have allowed us to earn the trust of customers worldwide. At Limpid Star, we believe in the power of "Share & Care," passing on the benefits of our success to our employees, customers, and the community. Join us on our journey to success.
As Limpid Star is into manufacturing of polished diamonds as well as jewellery, give us an overview of both the domestic and international businesses.
We are mainly dealing in overseas customer. Our main expertise in providing perfectly calibrated diamonds in Round and Fancy shape with natural assurance. Almost 70% of our manufacturing in diamond and jewelry is on Make to Order (MTO) production.
We executed every layout order by choosing the finest quality diamond with natural assurance irrespective of the minimum order requirement. Supplying consistent quality diamond as per jewelry design like eternity ring, tennis bracelet, necklace, etc.
Globally, which countries does Limpid Star export polished goods and jewellery currently? Which other international market/s do you think have good potential for exports from India?
Our diamond and jewellery exports have been flourishing in Japan, Singapore, Australia, South Korea, and Italy. However, we are now setting our sights on the European and US markets, which have the most potential for growth in 2024.
Was your company impacted in the recent rough shortage problem due to the geopolitical issues? How are you coping with the situation?
As I have told you, our 70% of business is on MTO, so we have advance planning of our sourcing, so it will have least impact on our business. However, for the new order we are getting, it’s slightly difficult to source same types of rough we are getting before. There are few reasons including the geopolitical issue and because of that increase in rough prices.
G7 seems to be adamant in its stand on sanctions on ALROSA, despite the Indian diamond industry and World federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) have opposed G7's views. Your opinion?
The announcement has caused concern in Surat, Gujarat, where a significant portion of rough diamonds are sourced from ALROSA, the leading supplier of mined rough diamonds, controlling 28% of the global market. We are hoping that the situation will be settled soon.
Finally, your views on the Lab-grown diamond (LGD) sector in India. As demand for LGDs / jewellery is increasing both in International and domestic markets, does Limpid Star plan to enter LGD production as well, like many others in the country of late?
At the moment, we do not have any plan to enter into the LGD sector. Supplying diamonds & jewellery with Natural assurance is the key to our business.
If we look at the wholesale price of LGDs, it keeps sinking since last 5 years at 57% down year over year. And still prices of LGDs are growing down day by day.
So, we want to expand our market in Natural diamond and jewelry only.
Aruna Gaitonde, Editor in Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough & Polished
