Almazny Dvor, a subsidiary of the largest diamond company in Russia, partially state-owned Alrosa, specializes in one-of-a-kind jewelry catering to society’s extreme upper-crust, both here in Russia and abroad. If you’re in Russia, have a lot of disposable cash and want a piece of jewelry for yourself — or even your dog or cat — you come to Almazny Dvor. The Leader spoke with Svetlana Maksimova, the company’s director, about polishing up the diamond business in Russia.

Svetlana Maksimova rose out of hard times to become director of Almazny Dvor, a diamond company that specializes in one-of-a-kind items of jewelry for the very rich. Started on the suggestion of Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov, the company has been working in Russia and the rest of the world for some time now.

What was the aim of opening Almazny Dvor?
The suggestion was made by Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov, and you can’t say no to Luzhkov. But that’s not the main thing. The main thing is that we needed to get actively involved in all areas of work with diamonds — mining, cutting and jewelry. Because the main profit is in jewelry and in generating a brand.

Also, only wholesale companies know Alrosa. We want individual people to know what Alrosa is. Everyone knows what Cartier and Tiffany’s are, but they don’t know what Alrosa is, although a quarter of the world’s diamonds are mined by us. And as far as cleanliness and quality go, Yakutsk diamonds are the best.
    
Last year, Debeers declared itself a free player on the market, and no one can oblige it to buy all its rough diamonds. And because the company is state-regulated, it sets itself up in the market very slowly and doesn’t receive the kinds of dividends that it could with such wealth.

What’s special about Russian jewelry?
One hundred years ago, when Faberge did his exhibition, Russian jewelers such were very highly valued. The special thing about our jewelry, is that, in contrast to American jewelry, for example, it has a lot of very detailed work done by hand under a magnifying glass. We have always had a technical-control department. If jewelers abroad were to put as much work into their jewelry as we do, then it would be very expensive, and as our salaries are lower…

Have you always felt like a leader?
No, I used to be more like a typical woman from Yakutia — when I had young children, I cooked, sewed and received guests. But nine years ago my husband had a heart attack and got very ill and my mother died. There was a time when I had a sick husband, children and no apartment and I became responsible for everything in the family. It is still like that today; I am responsible for everything.

My husband’s a doctor, so he earns a low salary. I wouldn’t say that I have a large salary, but my husband works at a sanatorium, which says it all. So I am a leader, not because I was born one, but because life turned out that way.

What is the difference between the management of a state company to the management of a private one?
In state companies there isn’t a lot to manage. You just have to carry out the general line. You don’t need to think over special plans. Here we concentrate on finding rich clients and offering new services. Of course we could have done a massive advertising campaign, but all our goods are unique and we don’t have large-scale production yet.

Secondly, in Yakutia there have been floods and so all advertising has been slashed and everything is going into building. So we can’t spend too much money on advertising. When a large company starts a new project, you usually need to invest a lot of money into it, even more so when you bear in mind the fact that we are not dealing just in normal up-market jewelry, but in exclusive jewelry. We can’t afford such expensive advertising at the moment.

What plans do you have for the future?
Our next task is to set up an international retail chain in Moscow.

We will first have to study where is will be best to open it. I think that our plans for international expansion will be set aside until next year. Our company is very big and there is no need to hurry or make incorrect steps in the way that some private companies do. We are like a big ship as opposed to a small boat — it takes us a long time to change direction. So we’ll grow gradually, first through the Moscow elite and then through the Russian embassies abroad. I think that we need several years to develop a good trademark.

Could you please tell me a bit about the process of selling jewelry at Almazny Dvor?
Almazny Dvor is generally not the kind of place where you go to look at displays and then buy something. The client needs to be able to come along, sit down and look at the jewelry closely and then try it on. Exclusive clients do all this in a well-furnished room above the shop. Our buyers want calm and individual service. Expensive things have to be sold in this way. Eighty-six percent of our work is designed for a particular buyer, and there is only one copy of each piece.

Do you sell any particularly unusual jewelry?
We even have jewelry for one-year-old babies. We once had an exhibition called “For Dogs and Cats.” In Russia, there are rich people who order diamond and gold collars for dogs and cats. Their pets just wear them when they take them to parties or to friends’ houses.

How do you sell your jewelry abroad?
When we hold an exhibition in a Russian embassy, then we naturally sell more and get more coverage than if we take part in a massive show with thousands of firms. If it’s in a Russian embassy, we invite the local elite, organize a luncheon and a presentation and invite journalists. Then, naturally, people write and talk about us.

In order to really launch ourselves into the world, we would need to carry out several years of marketing in order to be able to decide what kind of goods should be earmarked for which countries. The profit that the company makes from rough diamonds is such that we can afford not to hurry.