Jewellery and gem industry gets tech savvy

The gem and jewellery industry, especially the cutting and polishing of diamonds is fast moving towards automation of production.

According to industry sources, demand for bruting machines, which shapes the diamond before it is faceted, has significantly increased over the last two years.

Currently, there are three kinds of diamond-bruting machines "� automatic, manual and laser.

The use of these machineries, especially in cutting larger stones, is popular as wastage is much less, thus, adding to volumes.

According to Marzin Shroff, chief executive officer of Ishi's, the jewellery arm of the Rs 1,000 crore Suashish Diamonds, "We use over 62 laser machines in our manufacturing facility. While using these machines is more expensive, it is much more effective for a volume-driven business."

He adds further that the use of computer-aided shaping is also becoming more popular among larger players.In fact, a number of large players have already moved towards this model.

According to Mehul Choksi, chief executive officer, Gitanjali Group, "The use of specialised software to plan and conceptualise the shaping of a diamond is time-saving, and more accurate. Hence it is becoming very popular."

He says India's exports in jewellery and gems is growing by over 20 per cent as production has maintained its momentum owing to more convenient techniques.

The increased awareness of technology in the industry can be gauged from the increased participation of jewellery machine manufacturers at the ongoing India International Jewellery Show 2005 in Mumbai.

A person from an Israel-based company said, "The demand for machines has consistently gone up over the last five years. This is especially seen for automatic polishing of diamonds."

He, however, pointed out that while the use of machinery in diamond-cutting and polishing has risen, imported machines are preferred as they are considered more technologically advanced.