Indian Gem: Gemfields' Dev Shetty runs iconic luxury jewellery brand Faberge
Faberge, one of the world's most iconic luxury brands, is now run by 35-year-old Dev Shetty, chief operating officer of Gemfields Plc, the world's biggest emeralds company. And it appears the perfect fit for a man who breaks the mould.
If Faberge, famous for its jewelled eggs, is about heritage and tradition, Shetty is the ultimate outsider. Achartered accountant from Bhawan's College in Andheri, Mumbai, an early job with Essel PropackBSE 1.74 % took Shetty to London in 2002. He cut his teeth as a turnaround agent while working for theprivate equity arm of the Pallinghurst Group, owned by mining magnate Brian Gilbertson.
In 2007, Pallinghurst acquired 63% stake in UK-listed emeralds miner Gemfields. Gemfields owned the world's largest emerald mine at Kagem in Zambia. The new management attempted to enter the entire value chain from mine pit to jewellery showroom, including a gemstone cut and polish outfit in Jaipur. The plan failed and by 2009, Gemfields had suffered a net loss of $13 million.
The company urgently needed a new team. Pallinghurst brought in Ian Harebottle as CEO and offered Shetty the post of CFO. He jumped at the chance. The task was daunting. Shetty had no experience in mining, no insight into the dog-eatdog world of gemstones.
It had a bleeding balance sheet, and to worsen matters, the global economy crashed.
Shetty still remembers his first visit to the Kagem mine. "I thought to myself, wow, what an operation. It was fantastic," says Shetty, who likes "getting his feet dirty". It took me a couple of months to adjust to the mining industry, but I am still learning, he says.
Gemfields was burning $3 million a month in production and overheads, with an average cost of 90 cents a carat, and revenue of zero dollars a carat. "We knew something had to be done fast. But we didn't have much time and much money. So it had to be something creative," says the Mumbaikar.
"Immediately after joining Gemfields, I realised that the gems business is all about love and being passionate towards your product. This is what I told my employees. If you believe and have faith in the product, just go for it and the results will come," he says.
The new team began by junking the old business model. Instead of the entire value chain, Gemfields decided to concentrate on the segment between mine to wholesale market. It closed all factories, including the one in Jaipur.
"I believe real value addition lies in pricing the stone correctly. Moreover, when you sell through an auction, you get paid up front. When you sell cut and polished stones to jewellers, payment can sometimes take up to 12 months," says Shetty, the quintessential bean counter.
Monthly costs were cut to a third. But sales remained the biggest challenge. Gemfields began holding auctions two in Singapore for high-quality emeralds, and one each for high and low quality stones in Jaipur. "For our first auction in 2009, we invited 50 people. Only 20 came," he says.
As an accountant, Shetty understood risk better than most. He realised that when people bought a parcel of rough gems, all the stones were never of the same size and quality simply because unlike diamonds, there was no grading standard available. Buyers thus always took risk on each parcel.
Shetty advised Gemfields to introduce a grading system based on size, cut, colour and clarity. All stones were graded at the mine so that each parcel contained uniform stones. It was a hit with buyers who could now focus on buying exactly the grade that suited them. Sales soared.
But it wasn't enough. Gemfields needed buoyant demand but thanks to the heavy promotions by diamond miners, emeralds stood no chance with Western consumers. The company decided to become a champion for emeralds. "The world was talking green, green, green and we had a green product. Unfortunately, we had no money to match the De Beers of the world," says Shetty.
What the company lacked in cash it made up in chutzpah. In 2010, Gemfields tied up with the World Land Trust, an international conservation NGO, which works to purchase and protect threatened habitats worldwide.
"Our first collaboration was the Emeralds for Elephants event, where we worked with world-class jewellerydesigners to create a unique 'pop up' collection of bespoke emerald jewellery for an auction held in Selfridges, London. The aim of the collection was to bring attention to the World Land Trust's Indian Elephant Corridors appeal," says Shetty.
The company spent $150,000 that first year and got editorial coverage worth $3-4 million in the international fashion press, he adds. The next "Emeralds for Elephants Auction" was held in October 2011 at the Taj MahalPalace Hotel, Mumbai.
"We broke even in 15 months flat," says Shetty. Since then, Gemfields has added to its portfolio the world's largest ruby mine in Mozambique, and is scouting for a sapphire mine.
"Sapphire is found in Kashmir, Sri Lanka and Madagascar. It will be a tough challenge," says Shetty, who will be spearheading this effort.
Today, Gemfields earns $84 million in sales, with a profit margin of 50%. Costs are down to 80 cents a carat and revenue up 10-fold to $5/carat. Around 80% of the market of emeralds in India is supplied by Gemfields. "We have more than 100 customers queuing up for each auction while we can accommodate only 30. It is a good challenge to have," says Shetty.
He is cultivating his own tastes in luxury. "I have started building my watch collection. For my wife, an ibanker, I am a very big fan of Chanel and she now has a good collection," he says.
But at heart he remains the simple boy from Mumbai, who loves films, cricket and chess, in that order. Shetty signed up Madhuri Dixit as brand ambassador last year. A top Hollywood actress will be announced as ambassador next month. "My favourite pastime is watching films and TV. I don't read too much," confesses Shetty, who most recently saw 'Dabangg 2".
Gemfields appointed Shetty as CEO in September last year to accelerate the pace of growth, making him the top Indian executive in the rarified echelons of global luxury mining. According to CEO Harebottle, his natural entrepreneurial talent, leadership skills and technical abilities have been clearly demonstrated over the past few years.
Shetty says his relative youth is no disadvantage as a leader. "I don't spend much time thinking how young I am to do my role. This is one of the reasons why I am able to do my job," he says, who counts Steve Jobs and NR Narayana Murthy as his business heroes.
Under its mine-to-market value chain, Gemfields has been supplying customised stones to leading jewellery brands in India and overseas. "We have a tie-up with Gitanjali for a new emeralds-based collection called "Envi". Like Intel, we want to use a comarketing and co-branding strategy," says Shetty.
Being the proverbial self-made professional, he doesn't believe in luck. "People do talk about "luck" or how lucky one has to be, but I don't believe in such things. I always say that if you have belief in doing something, then just go for it. There is never a good or bad time and don't wait for opportunity to come to you," he says.
The real test of Shetty's ingenuity lies ahead. The Pallinghurst Group, which bought Faberge from Unilever for $38 million in 2007, decided in December 2012 to merge the luxury jewellery brand with Gemfields. Gemfields intends to use Faberge to promote coloured gems and increase demand for the stones it mines, growing their market share in the jewellery industry.
It won't be a cakewalk. Faberge has a loss of almost $70 million on its balance sheet. And under Unilever, Faberge became better known for its mass-market fragrance brands such as Brut, the aftershave and toiletries range. For Shetty, this makes Faberge another perfect challenge. "I remember when I joined Gemfields, there were people who said Gemfields will never work and we proved them wrong. During the Faberge transaction, I heard the same thing. But we will prove them wrong too," he says.
Source : NIDHI NATH SRINIVAS,ET BUREAU
Indian Gem: Gemfields' Dev Shetty runs iconic luxury jewellery brand Faberge
Faberge, one of the world's most iconic luxury brands, is now run by 35-year-old Dev Shetty, chief operating officer of Gemfields Plc, the world's biggest emeralds company. And it appears the perfect fit for a man who breaks the mould.
If Faberge, famous for its jewelled eggs, is about heritage and tradition, Shetty is the ultimate outsider. Achartered accountant from Bhawan's College in Andheri, Mumbai, an early job with Essel PropackBSE 1.74 % took Shetty to London in 2002. He cut his teeth as a turnaround agent while working for theprivate equity arm of the Pallinghurst Group, owned by mining magnate Brian Gilbertson.
In 2007, Pallinghurst acquired 63% stake in UK-listed emeralds miner Gemfields. Gemfields owned the world's largest emerald mine at Kagem in Zambia. The new management attempted to enter the entire value chain from mine pit to jewellery showroom, including a gemstone cut and polish outfit in Jaipur. The plan failed and by 2009, Gemfields had suffered a net loss of $13 million.
The company urgently needed a new team. Pallinghurst brought in Ian Harebottle as CEO and offered Shetty the post of CFO. He jumped at the chance. The task was daunting. Shetty had no experience in mining, no insight into the dog-eatdog world of gemstones.
It had a bleeding balance sheet, and to worsen matters, the global economy crashed.
Shetty still remembers his first visit to the Kagem mine. "I thought to myself, wow, what an operation. It was fantastic," says Shetty, who likes "getting his feet dirty". It took me a couple of months to adjust to the mining industry, but I am still learning, he says.
Gemfields was burning $3 million a month in production and overheads, with an average cost of 90 cents a carat, and revenue of zero dollars a carat. "We knew something had to be done fast. But we didn't have much time and much money. So it had to be something creative," says the Mumbaikar.
"Immediately after joining Gemfields, I realised that the gems business is all about love and being passionate towards your product. This is what I told my employees. If you believe and have faith in the product, just go for it and the results will come," he says.
The new team began by junking the old business model. Instead of the entire value chain, Gemfields decided to concentrate on the segment between mine to wholesale market. It closed all factories, including the one in Jaipur.
"I believe real value addition lies in pricing the stone correctly. Moreover, when you sell through an auction, you get paid up front. When you sell cut and polished stones to jewellers, payment can sometimes take up to 12 months," says Shetty, the quintessential bean counter.
Monthly costs were cut to a third. But sales remained the biggest challenge. Gemfields began holding auctions two in Singapore for high-quality emeralds, and one each for high and low quality stones in Jaipur. "For our first auction in 2009, we invited 50 people. Only 20 came," he says.
As an accountant, Shetty understood risk better than most. He realised that when people bought a parcel of rough gems, all the stones were never of the same size and quality simply because unlike diamonds, there was no grading standard available. Buyers thus always took risk on each parcel.
Shetty advised Gemfields to introduce a grading system based on size, cut, colour and clarity. All stones were graded at the mine so that each parcel contained uniform stones. It was a hit with buyers who could now focus on buying exactly the grade that suited them. Sales soared.
But it wasn't enough. Gemfields needed buoyant demand but thanks to the heavy promotions by diamond miners, emeralds stood no chance with Western consumers. The company decided to become a champion for emeralds. "The world was talking green, green, green and we had a green product. Unfortunately, we had no money to match the De Beers of the world," says Shetty.
What the company lacked in cash it made up in chutzpah. In 2010, Gemfields tied up with the World Land Trust, an international conservation NGO, which works to purchase and protect threatened habitats worldwide.
"Our first collaboration was the Emeralds for Elephants event, where we worked with world-class jewellerydesigners to create a unique 'pop up' collection of bespoke emerald jewellery for an auction held in Selfridges, London. The aim of the collection was to bring attention to the World Land Trust's Indian Elephant Corridors appeal," says Shetty.
The company spent $150,000 that first year and got editorial coverage worth $3-4 million in the international fashion press, he adds. The next "Emeralds for Elephants Auction" was held in October 2011 at the Taj MahalPalace Hotel, Mumbai.
"We broke even in 15 months flat," says Shetty. Since then, Gemfields has added to its portfolio the world's largest ruby mine in Mozambique, and is scouting for a sapphire mine.
"Sapphire is found in Kashmir, Sri Lanka and Madagascar. It will be a tough challenge," says Shetty, who will be spearheading this effort.
Today, Gemfields earns $84 million in sales, with a profit margin of 50%. Costs are down to 80 cents a carat and revenue up 10-fold to $5/carat. Around 80% of the market of emeralds in India is supplied by Gemfields. "We have more than 100 customers queuing up for each auction while we can accommodate only 30. It is a good challenge to have," says Shetty.
He is cultivating his own tastes in luxury. "I have started building my watch collection. For my wife, an ibanker, I am a very big fan of Chanel and she now has a good collection," he says.
But at heart he remains the simple boy from Mumbai, who loves films, cricket and chess, in that order. Shetty signed up Madhuri Dixit as brand ambassador last year. A top Hollywood actress will be announced as ambassador next month. "My favourite pastime is watching films and TV. I don't read too much," confesses Shetty, who most recently saw 'Dabangg 2".
Gemfields appointed Shetty as CEO in September last year to accelerate the pace of growth, making him the top Indian executive in the rarified echelons of global luxury mining. According to CEO Harebottle, his natural entrepreneurial talent, leadership skills and technical abilities have been clearly demonstrated over the past few years.
Shetty says his relative youth is no disadvantage as a leader. "I don't spend much time thinking how young I am to do my role. This is one of the reasons why I am able to do my job," he says, who counts Steve Jobs and NR Narayana Murthy as his business heroes.
Under its mine-to-market value chain, Gemfields has been supplying customised stones to leading jewellery brands in India and overseas. "We have a tie-up with Gitanjali for a new emeralds-based collection called "Envi". Like Intel, we want to use a comarketing and co-branding strategy," says Shetty.
Being the proverbial self-made professional, he doesn't believe in luck. "People do talk about "luck" or how lucky one has to be, but I don't believe in such things. I always say that if you have belief in doing something, then just go for it. There is never a good or bad time and don't wait for opportunity to come to you," he says.
The real test of Shetty's ingenuity lies ahead. The Pallinghurst Group, which bought Faberge from Unilever for $38 million in 2007, decided in December 2012 to merge the luxury jewellery brand with Gemfields. Gemfields intends to use Faberge to promote coloured gems and increase demand for the stones it mines, growing their market share in the jewellery industry.
It won't be a cakewalk. Faberge has a loss of almost $70 million on its balance sheet. And under Unilever, Faberge became better known for its mass-market fragrance brands such as Brut, the aftershave and toiletries range. For Shetty, this makes Faberge another perfect challenge. "I remember when I joined Gemfields, there were people who said Gemfields will never work and we proved them wrong. During the Faberge transaction, I heard the same thing. But we will prove them wrong too," he says.
Source : NIDHI NATH SRINIVAS,ET BUREAU
