“Kate Middleton. She encompasses everything that’s great about our country and she has fantastic style. Like our jewellery, she has that timeless, elegant look.” Gary A Ingram, Founder of The Diamond Store on an individual who encompasses their brand with their style
The Diamond Store, London was conceived after founder, Gary A Ingram struggled with his own personal search and window shopping experience for “THE ring” for his now wife. In fact, when he recounts the memory he uses the words “uninformative” and “bamboozling”, which I’m sure a lot of us can relate to. With a fear of asking too many questions once in-store and gazing at the glittering ring counters, Gary’s background in internet marketing, luckily for us, led him to build a digital space online where your confusion between a Baguette and Cushion cut diamond is a thing of the past (and, if your fiancé has filed a specified list – solitaire, emerald cut, diamond – there’s literally a dream of a checklist selection process to break it down and land on the rock of her dreams). Plus, if you’ve been deliberating over the difference between lab diamonds and mined diamonds, Gary’s explanation will leave you in the dark no longer…
With a mission to deliver on “luxury with confidence”, The Diamond Store London is a must-visit digital stop on anyone’s ring buying journey.
#1 What inspired the launch of The Diamond Store? Why did the company start?
“I had the inspiration to launch The Diamond Store after my own experience with shopping for a diamond engagement ring. I found it a challenge, because there’s so much to learn about diamonds and it’s such an emotional, important purchase, so you don’t want to get it wrong. I’m happy to say that a good friend in the jewellery business gave me some sound advice and my now wife said yes! However, afterwards I thought, how could I make this experience better and easier for everyone? That’s how the idea for The Diamond Store was born.”
#2 Talk to us about your career background?
“I spent 20 years in real estate in central London, and then a few years in online marketing, which led to the opening of The Diamond Store.”
#3 Describe a regular work day. What does this often involve for you?
“It starts with meetings with our Heads of Department, making sure everything is working as it should. This involves chats with our main buyers of jewellery, making sure supply lines are working and addressing any issues. Then I have meetings with the team to discuss things like new jewellery ranges that are coming live, new ideas, what’s selling well, how we can expand. For example, we might consider things like what the next month’s birthstone will be, or the styles of engagement rings that will be on trend the following season.”
#4 What’s the ethos behind The Diamond Store?
“We want to provide access to great jewellery, at great prices, to everyone regardless of where they are located in the world.”
#5 What draws you in terms of aesthetics and design when it comes to The Diamond Store’s user-friendly website?
“The most important thing is for customers to be able to find the jewellery items that they have imagined in their mind. We want to balance a luxurious look and feel with user friendliness. My background does help with this, it’s vital to make sure that customers can get to the beautiful item of jewellery they are looking for, fast. We do this with a combination of elegant, well-thought-out web design, HD images and video of all our jewellery items so the shopping experience is as near to a real life luxury shopping experience as people can possibly get to online, and finally, carefully planned navigation.”
#6 Talk to us about the difference between lab and mined diamonds?
“Lab grown diamonds are real diamonds, just like mined diamonds. This means, that in terms of their physical qualities, chemical structure and the way they look, they are both exactly the same – simply, diamonds. The only difference is their origin. Lab grown diamonds are grown in a high tech laboratory by scientists using state of the art technology that mimics the extreme, volcanic conditions that formed diamonds under the Earth’s surface millions of years ago. That’s pretty remarkable when you think about it!”
#7 What are the ethical and sustainable benefits of lab diamonds?
“Because lab grown diamonds have not been extracted from the ground, they can be considered environmentally sustainable and ethical. In other words, their production benefits the environment and protects the Earth’s resources for future generations.”
#8 If you could collaborate with another brand or celebrity to showcase your pieces, who would it be and why?
“Kate Middleton. She encompasses everything that’s great about our country and she has fantastic style. Like our jewellery, she has that timeless, elegant look.”
#9 The Diamond Store has more than 185,000 happy customers (and counting), what do you hope your customers experience and feel when they purchase a piece of jewellery from you?
“I want all of our customers to love wearing our jewellery. One of the things that I really enjoy about selling jewellery is that it means so much to our customers. I know that it will become an important part of their life and remind them of those happy, important life occasions they shared together for years to come.”
#10 If you could create a new piece of technology to make your life easier, what would it be?
“A cloning machine so we could clone the brilliant team we have at The Diamond Store and do even more great work!”
The Quickfire Round
#1 The current piece of tech you can’t live without? “My iPhone.”
#2 Tea or coffee? “Coffee.”
#3 Are you tidy? Or more of an ‘organised mess’ type person? “Tidy.”
#4 Wine or champagne? “Wine.”
#5 Restaurant or takeaway? “At the moment we have no choice, but when we’re not in lockdown it’s restaurants all the way.”
#6 Favourite book? “Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts.”
#7 Dream house and location? “A modern house on La Gorce Island, Miami Beach.”
Discover more beautiful engagement rings and jewellery designs at The Diamond Store’s user-friendly website.
For more bridal accessories and jewellery inspiration head to Bridal Editor’s accessory archives.
