He began at age 17

INTERVIEW: Colin Shah

'Indian consumers' tastes are becoming Western'

Colin Shah, founder and Managing Director of Kama Jewellery, hails from a family of doctors. Not having secured admission into medical college by a narrow margin, he explored other options. Initiated into the diamond trade at the age of 17, he had hands-on training in polished assortment, diamond manufacturing, and jewellery manufacturing. After this he started his own business at the age of 21 and began exporting diamonds to Japan. Simultaneously, he began manufacturing jewellery for family friends and exporting jewellery to the Gulf. Seeing that his jewellery business was doing better than the diamond one, he decided to start a casting jewellery factory, which he did at SEEPZ. Kama Jewellery's vision is to become one of the largest manufacturers of jewellery from Asia. It employs computer-aided designing (CAD) to facilitate better visualisation, better communication of designs and reduce repetition of work. Its computer-aided-model (CAM) outputs have precision levels as high as 25 microns. To acquire as well as upgrade proficiency levels, its workers are trained by experts from Germany and Italy. Unskilled workers are given training for six months, to adapt them to Kama's style of working. Ten per cent of the company's work-strength is deaf and mute.

Kama is in the process of entering into a partnership with Leo Schachter Diamonds of Israel, to manufacturing the finest diamond jewelry for the major markets of the world. Leo Schachter has factories in Botswana, China and Thailand, and sales offices in all the major diamond centres. Leo Schachter, a leading strategically-driven and marketing-focused diamond manufacturer. The partnership will give Kama direct access to a supply of low-cost diamonds from Leo Schachter's manufacturing infrastructure in various diamond cutting centres, as well as its retail customer base.
Excerpts from an interview:

When was Kama Jewellery established, and how would you profile the company?

Kama Jewellery is a leading manufacturer and exporter of higher end diamond jewellery from Asia. Since its inception in 1996, with 40 employees producing 1,000-1,500 pieces a month in its first year of operation, Kama has expanded to two factories, with 850 workers and professionals, producing 25,000 pieces of jewellery every month. Our manufacturing facility is at the Santa Electronics Export Processing Zone (SEEPZ) and our diamond office is in Mumbai where the buying, sorting and fluting of diamonds takes place. We pride ourselves on adding 100 new designs every month and working with designers across the globe to be at the cutting edge of style.

What do you see as the potential for export of Indian diamond studded jewellery?

Ours is a rapidly growing market. The Indian consumer's tastes are becoming Western, and Indian women have a huge appetite for solitaires.

What segment of the jewellery market is Kama present in?  

Kama exports to the US, Europe and the Gulf. We also have a presence in the domestic market and work with Indian retailers. In India, we have tied up with Platinum Guild International and are an authorised manufacturer for platinum jewellery.

Where do you see Kama Jewellery three to five years from now?

We are in the process of entering into a new partnership with an Israel-based site holder and are looking at expanding our facilities to 32,000 sq ft housing 1,500 people by early 2008.

"We pride ourselves on adding 100 new designs every month and working with designers across the globe to be at the cutting edge of style"
Colin Shah
Founder and Managing Director, Kama Jewellery