Starter Kit. Idea 248 of 500. Cluster 12
Gem photography and grading videos for online sales, a service to the small dealers
The mechanism, from the book
The sapphire is mined here and cut here, and its value is certified in Basel and turned into money in Geneva. Every step of that chain can be built at home, and the first one is the piece of paper.
The first step
Photograph and film 10 stones for one small dealer this week using a phone, a light box and a turntable, with a short video of each under different light. Ask the dealer to list them online and track enquiries against his usual photos. The proof is the difference in enquiries and whether he pays for the next batch.
- Who pays first
- A small gem dealer who sells online and loses buyers because his photographs do not show colour, clarity or cut honestly.
- What leaves today
- Small dealers sell online with poor images, so buyers abroad pay less or buy through foreign sellers who photograph the same stones better.
Ask first
- National Gem and Jewellery Authority. Ask what a listing photo or video must show to describe a stone truthfully.
- Data Protection Authority. Ask what you must do to store dealers' client images and details safely.
Check before you spend
Whether your photos show true colour without editing that misleads a buyer, and who owns the pictures once the dealer pays.
Find out these three numbers
- What do dealers pay now to photograph a stone?
- How many stones a week does one dealer list online?
- Does a video sell a stone faster than photos alone?
The test
Does it keep value that now leaves the island, or build the proof that lets somebody else do so?
From the appendix of Why Not Sri Lanka? by Dr Maheshika Halbeisen. The idea and the mechanism are the book's; this kit was written for the site.