What does your business do?
77Diamonds.com designs and crafts fine jewellery and sells it directly to clients. We are an online, contemporary diamond jeweller that has disrupted the fine jewellery industry.
Our technology brings the world's largest selection of diamonds directly from the source to the fingertips of the consumer (with a 360-degree view of the diamond) and allows them to create their own unique piece of jewellery, all at an accessible price. Our clients simply hand-pick the diamond or gemstone and combine it with one of our exquisite designs, or work with our bespoke team to create a newly imagined piece. It's all made to order, fully transparent, and completely ethical.
What's been your greatest achievement?
It is hard to identify a single greatest achievement, as every year has many battles fought and mostly won. We have been privileged to win multiple industry awards (the first are always the sweetest!).
Subscribe to MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE
Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
And we have reached many major milestones, such as moving our headquarters to Mayfair, opening our own workshop, and successfully launching multiple showrooms. We now have an international footprint.
What has been your biggest challenge?
Dealing with the paradox of offering best-in-class products and customer service while significantly undercutting traditional jewellery pricing.
This has been exceptionally difficult because we had no outside investment until the middle of 2018. The process has involved rigorous prioritisation, a great deal of compromise on projects and timings, and sometimes lots of frustration.
What are your plans for hitting your targets this year?
Making the business more efficient, continuing to improve the process for customers, and further embracing social media.
What's the one piece of advice you'd give fellow entrepreneurs?
It's always going to be much harder than you think and it will never work exactly as expected. Be flexible, formulate contingency plans, and apply the 80/20 rule (get it live and fix the kinks later).
-
Elon Musk enters the White House – what happens now?Elon Musk has achieved the seemingly impossible many times before in the business world. But will he be able to cut the US government down to size?
-
Sri Mulyani Indrawati: Indonesia’s Iron LadyKeeping Sri Mulyani Indrawati on as Indonesia's finance minister has steadied the ship after the election of a former military general spooked financial markets
-
Media mogul James Dolan takes straight shot at the limelightControversial media mogul James Dolan has been hailed as a visionary for his Sphere arena in Las Vegas. But can he square the circle financially?
-
Do we need central banks, or is it time to privatise money?Analysis Free banking is one alternative to central banks, but would switching to a radical new system be worth the risk?
-
Byju’s – the startling rise and fallIndia’s educational technology start-up Byju's attracted big-name backers and soared to vertiginous heights during Covid. It has now plummeted. What happened?
-
Indian magnate Ratan Tata dies at 86 – how he made a mark in the UKRatan Tata took the helm of the family business in 1991 and transformed it into an international conglomerate worth $365bn. His death plunged India into mourning
-
Jimmy Carter makes history as the first former US president to turn 100When Jimmy Carter left office, few would have predicted an outbreak of national affection for the former president’s 100th birthday four decades later. But his legacy is worth celebrating
-
Eric Adams: the New York City mayor charged with corruptionControversy and accusations of corruption have followed Eric Adams in his rise to the mayoralty of New York City. Now he has been charged with a federal crime.
