Freely speaking: Robert May
After years of promoting colorless diamonds, the NCDIA's Robert May turns to color

September 01, 2008

The Natural Color Diamond Association's Robert May.

Robert May is a true veteran of the jewelry trade. After spending 12 years as a retailer in Connecticut, he sold his business and signed on with the Diamond Promotion Service, where he spent seven years preaching the virtues of colorless diamonds. Four years ago, he joined the Belgian sightholder Pluczenik to help market its Escada diamond brand in the United States, another colorless coup.

Since January, however, May has been singing the praises of color. He assumed the executive director position at the Natural Color Diamond Association (NCDIA), a five-year-old trade group whose 45 manufacturing members market the world's premier gems. Given his newfound mission to raise awareness and perceived value of all natural-color diamonds—not just the uber-exclusive pinks and blues—May offered a presentation at the NCDIA Breakfast Event at the JCK Show in Las Vegas on June 1. Here's how he plans to spread the word about color.

Couture International Jeweler: What's the biggest misconception about natural-color diamonds?
Robert May: There's threshold resistance because most retailers don't know or understand the product. But with education on the buying and selling side, they can achieve high margins, product differentiation and a competitive advantage not only against other jewelers but also against other luxury goods.

CIJ: Are the rarest colored diamonds, like pinks and blues, attainable? RM: There is a supply, but retailers need to understand that there are shades of these colors. Look at pink. You can find a brownish pink or a purplish pink, where brown and purple are what's called the inhibitor colors, and they sometimes add warmth to the stone, make it really beautiful and also more affordable. Think about a green diamond. There are so many shades of green, like olive green or yellowish green. A woman might look at an olive green diamond and want to buy it because it matches the color of her husband's eyes. We can't forget that while the green is rare and expensive, the olive green may have a personal attachment that goes beyond the rarity.

The 2.10-carat fancy pink diamond in this platinum ring by Dehres Ltd. may be hard to come by, which is why the NCDIA's Robert May suggests you consider stones with "inhibitor" colors, like brownish pink.

CIJ: What's the most important thing to know when buying colored diamonds?
RM: Natural-color diamonds have the emotional attachment of a diamond with the individuality and personality of color. Every woman or man looks at color differently, and that's what makes them so unique. Retailers who understand the value of a champagne or cinnamon diamond are looking for stones for their collectors. They should look for opportunities to add to their inventory across a broad spectrum of color and price. With natural-color diamonds, a retailer has the ability to make margin and offer more differentiation than any other product in the diamond world.

CIJ: How should retailers talk about synthetics?
RM: When people ask if I have a problem with synthetics, I say no. The consumer self-selects, and although we can influence the decision, they make the choice. On occasions linked to love—birthdays, anniversaries—natural-color diamonds fit that perfectly. They're forever, they're natural, like the relationship. But they both have their place.

CIJ: After promoting colorless diamonds for so long, what's surprised you about this category?
RM: The range of colors out there makes it very exciting for me to market them. From suede blues to vivid blues, there are so many blues out there. I keep finding colors I never knew existed in the diamond world. I saw a bluish purple the other day and a reddish yellow. A trend I'm seeing is using melee of greenish browns or orangey browns to make these incredible pavé pieces. When you mix in the emotional value of a diamond and combine it with the full spectrum of color, from browns to greens, people are blown away.