Sparkling success: Dinesh Lakhani
Over 27 years, Dinesh Lakhani has risen up the career ladder of Kiran Gems, gaining experience in practically every function. Now as Global Director, he is leading the company from strength to strength, thanks to its industry-leading capabilities and reputation.
Kiran Gems is the world’s largest manufacturer of ethically sourced cut and polished natural diamonds, serving as a supplier to all the renowned diamond jewelry retailers across the globe. First founded in 1985 as a small manufacturing firm in Surat, India, the company gradually grew and gained recognition from the Indian government, first becoming an export house in 1996 and later a trading house in 1999.
Today, Kiran Gems has offices, trading and manufacturing units in Mumbai and Surat, the United Arab Emirates and the United States. Along with its global channel partners, Kiran Gems offers the widest range of polished goods available and prides itself on delivering the highest-quality products and services on every front.
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One of the people responsible for the company’s long-term growth and success is Global Director Dinesh Lakhani. Since joining Kiran Gems in 1998, Lakhani has gained hands-on experience in every step of manufacturing, including rough assortment, mapping, planning, cleaving, bruting and sawing, polishing, grading and sales.
Having risen through the ranks, Lakhani is responsible for the company’s marketing strategy, global sales and distribution of natural diamonds.
"Consumers will choose whatever appeals to them the most both from an aspirational as well as value retention perspective, and natural diamonds present one of the best combinations," Lakhani says.
"I believe there are vast global opportunities for natural diamonds. We have new-age consumers, a greater array of global discovery channels and an increase in global discretionary spending across developing markets. Altogether, this presents the potential for sustainable growth for decades to come."
"As an industry, we need to be nimble and efficiently respond to the new ways consumers perceive value toward any discretionary products."
Kiran Gems is the ideal company to leverage this potential, thanks to its effective distribution strategy to serve clients around the world, covering all the major diamond-consuming markets, as well as the world’s most well-known brands and manufacturers of jewelry and watches.
The company has also developed an online ecommerce portal that allows clients to browse Kiran Gem’s large and exclusive inventory easily while still providing every detail of each stone.
"As an industry, we need to be nimble and efficiently respond to the new ways consumers perceive value toward any discretionary products," Lakhani says. "The new channels through which such discretionary demand is created did not exist a few years back. Adapting and responding to them is a challenge as well a great opportunity for the industry."
Unrivaled capabilities
Kiran Gems is singular in the industry thanks to the size and scale of its manufacturing capabilities. The company reports that it is the largest user of advanced technology in the diamond industry worldwide. For example, it is the only large company globally to undertake all of its planning and marking of rough diamonds on Sarine machines and was the first to install automated melee screening and M-Screen machines in all its offices.
As a member of the Responsible Jewelry Council and a DeBeers Group Sightholder, the rough diamonds Kiran Gems uses are 100 percent natural and purchased from ethical sources only. Manufacturing takes place under strict supervision, and the polished diamonds are graded into nearly 2,000 standard assortments, offering the widest selection of products on the market.
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Aside from being the largest manufacturer of natural diamonds in the world, Lakhani believes what sets Kiran Gems apart from its competitors is its willingness to take on new challenges, which ultimately adds value for its customers.
"Customer satisfaction is the biggest metric for us. This is the key driving factor behind long-term growth with profitability for us as well as our customers. Our vision is to double the market share of natural diamonds in the overall premium consumer discretionary sector over the next 10 years," he says.
As a testament to Kiran Gems’ commitment to quality and significance in the market, the company is regular victor of industry awards since 2007. Most recently, this includes recognition at the 51st Indian Gem & Jewelry Awards 2024, where Kiran Gems won first place in seven prestigious awards, most notably in the category of Highest Exporter of Cut & Polished Diamonds, for which it claimed first place for the 16th time overall.
Another secret to Kiran Gems’ success is its supplier relationships have been formed over decades. Two notable suppliers include HRD Antwerp India and Malca-Amit JK Logistics. According to Lakhani, these long-term relationships provide consistency for Kiran Gems and its partners, allowing Kiran Gems to focus on customer satisfaction and innovation to meet new challenges.
"We want to support the industry to be at the forefront of meeting consumer aspirations for years to come."
It’s for these reasons combined that 97 percent of Kiran Gems’ clients are repeat customers.
Looking ahead, thanks to its industry-leading capabilities, capacity and consistency, the company is well-positioned to remain as the global market leader in the manufacturing of natural diamonds.
"With our vast workforce and talent pool, supported by our high-tech capex – which is the largest in the industry – we aim for transformation, collaboration and innovation for all our actions," Lakhani says.
"As a manufacturing-focused group with zero debt and more than US$2.5 billion of global revenue, we want to support the industry to be at the forefront of meeting consumer aspirations for years to come."