In the Loupe
In the Loupe
Let's Discuss Diamond Prices ft. UNI Diamonds
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Mike sits down with Yoav Singer from UNI Diamonds to unpack what their real-time marketplace data reveals about diamond pricing, buyer behavior, and where demand is actually moving. We also talk through how tariffs, gold prices, memo, and better education are reshaping how retailers source stones and build trust with shoppers.
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Welcome And Why Diamond Data Matters
SPEAKER_00Welcome back everybody to In the Loop. What is up, everybody? My name is Michael Burpo. Thanks again for listening to In the Loop. This week I'm joined by Joav from Uni Diamonds. And uni got onto my radar this past year at the end of uh 2025 when they released their aggregate diamond data and an annual report that kind of compared lab going prices and fluctuations for uh certain uh specs as well as their natural diamond prices, and I found it to be incredibly thorough and impartial and just very interesting. Uh so I spoke with Joav about uh what uni is doing and how they aggregate this data, as well as uh which diamonds are going up and which ones are going down, which ones should be invested, and also some of the knock-on effects of uh if a diamond is increasing in price or if metals are increasing in price, is that going to have a side effect on the uh diamonds? And it was just a really cool conversation. We dove into a lot deeper into diamond prices than I normally get. So if you're uh someone who enjoys markets or just talking about diamonds in general, I think you'll really enjoy this conversation. Make sure you check them out in the show notes below.
SPEAKER_03This
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Uni Diamonds And Its Market Reports
SPEAKER_03And now back to the show.
SPEAKER_00What is up everybody? My name is Michael Burpo. I'm joined by Yoav Singer from Uni Diamonds. How are you doing today, Yoav? Good. I'm glad to be here. Thanks for having me. So excited. So um Uni Diamonds, I kind of got introduced to you because of this really amazing uh diamond uh report that you guys released all about the state of diamonds um this past year in 2025. And I thought it was really interesting. It provided a lot of insights that I actually hadn't seen on paper before. Could you introduce uh what Uni Diamonds is for the people at home?
SPEAKER_02Of course. Yeah, so Uni Diamonds were essentially a real-time marketplace. Uh so the idea is that we bring together more than 450 suppliers all under one roof, one platform. And the idea is to make it as simple as buying something on Amazon. You see something that you like, you click, you buy it, everything is 100% available and accounted for. And we just uh uh take care also uh of the shipment and logistics embedded in our product. We are a subsidiary company of Malka and it's obviously a powerhouse in the trading uh industry and in the diamond industry. So the idea is that everything you buy already is accounted for, is shipped one KYC, one shipment, one invoice, uh as simple as you can get. And on top of that, a couple of years ago, we said, you know, if we have access to all these suppliers and we know exactly what their feed is changing like in real time, let's make something interesting with it. And we've compiled a bunch of marketing sites that are powered by AI, powered by actually what's happening in real time, um, absolutely, completely unbiased, um, changing day by day. And we measure uh the polls, or let's take call it the state of the market every day. Uh we know to track and to keep our hearts on uh we know how the industry is moving, how pricing is changing for certain categories, is there more or less supply of goods in certain categories, what's traded more often? And that's how we've built those insights, and we've tried to extend that as an additional service that kind of like brings together the state of the industry as a separate report that we issue one supporter uh that tells the story of the industry for natural and labor and alike.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's really a super fascinating one because um the fact that you guys are impartial, I think is a really compelling aspect of it. And you were saying that you just take the data and aggregate it and then release it as a report, no, no bias. And I think that that is something that I sometimes feel um there needs to be more of in the industry. This impartial, unbiased uh display of information. Uh, that's what we are trying to do. Um, I did a whole episode last uh last season all about at the end of the year, all about how e-commerce did on our platform. And uh, it's very listen to it. It's great. Thank you. It's very tempting to um obscure or obfuscate um some of the numbers because it's like I want us to look as good as possible. But then there is something very powerful about like, here's what is going on in the industry. Uh I want to jump into, for example, lab grown diamond prices and like you were talking about how some are actually pretty stable or even going up. Um, when it comes to the diamond aggregate, uh, what are you looking at? Is it just um purely like what diamonds are passing through your market, or is it which ones are, for example, passing through your market and then not selling? What does that look like for on your end?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it's it's a bit of both, actually. And it's a good question because I think that what we're trying to measure is again the state of the market and uni's inventory being over 2 million diamonds that we see each and every day. It's pretty much equal, evenly distributed between naturals and laborers. I think it's it represents a very fairly decent share of what's happening around the trade. Uh so what we do is we take all that feed, we clean it, we remove the outliers, and we come up with the correct calculations onto how the market is actually moving in real time. We base our data mostly on what's happening on the manufacturing side in India, which used to be kind of like the one way to go about it, up until what, uh, you know, 14 months or so. That's when uh tariffs uh jumped into our lives, and we understood that the market behaves very differently for what's happening in India for global trade, let's call it, and what's happening in the US, which is becoming a market on its own. Uh, because how goods are moving and what's actually traded and how prices are shifting in certain categories, you know, let's call it in India, is not exactly what's happening in the US. The US is a completely separate market. And when trying to import goods, then we have tariffs that are kicking in. And US customers also care for very different things compared to the other clientele. They want memo options, which is something that we've embedded into our platform. They want fast delivery, right? And and the the different needs are just like becoming more and more overt, let's call it, out in the open. And and the concept for us was to try to represent what's happening in real time and try to fit our platform or fit our product and the marketing sets themselves, to tell one story about what's happening globally and one different story about what's happening right now in the US, specifically for what kind of US goods are moving and changing the prices.
SPEAKER_00Oh, that's so interesting that there could be this kind of divestment of the of the markets with US being such a I'm not gonna say an important player, but just more of like its own kind of self-sustained ecosystems. But I also think that I am sort of starting to see a big shift with these inroads with um being able to have so many diamonds at your fingertips. I feel like maybe 10 years ago, there was a lot more of a culture of like jewelers swapping amongst themselves, you know, trading and for example, memoing diamonds. Hey, I need a very specific stone that my customer requested. And now it's like they don't need to go to other jewelers. There are tools like uni that they could uh find, you know, they can present to their retailer their shopper, hey, I have all of these stones at my fingertips, whichever one you choose, it's going to be here guaranteed within what like seven to ten days. I find that that's or next day delivery.
SPEAKER_01Or next day.
SPEAKER_00I think that that is such a compelling difference um where it's like the options kind of remove a lot of the friction.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and and I think that what you're saying, obviously you're seeing it, and maybe I would love for you also to share how you're seeing it from punchmark side of things. But I can share that you know, when we've developed union and try to make our market in the US, we understood that we need to grow with the industry. So, in a way, yeah, we would like to, you can say we want to disrupt it and we want to make sure that we're introducing innovation into our traders and how dealers and how retail stores are working. But at the end of the day, it was about how are we aligning with the current processes and procedures of how business is actually conducted right now. So we knew that there was this thing that's called memo. We wanted to make sure that we align and help it grow in the more sustainable way, let's call it for the industry. So, you know, as a jewelry store, as a retail store, you need a specific stone that you don't have in your case, in your vault. What do you do? Traditionally, you would start calling people all around, try to figure out do you actually have a three-carat old miner, right? Which obviously we know that uh these antique shapes are very much taking over right now because everyone wants a very specific uh special cut, right? Why do you start? You start calling people and everything. You don't need actually need it. You don't need a sales rep coming over to your store, showing you a bunch of goods on a suitcase, and then traveling and taking off and coming back three weeks later to see what you've sold. No, you can only pick and choose exactly what you want. And uh with Malcolm it, with FedEx, next day you have it on your store. All you need to do is click, you take the stonom memo, we take care of everything. And the idea was to simplify or to digitize a process that already has been existing in the industry for years, just make it as seamless, as simple as possible for our retail stories and partners.
SPEAKER_00It's really uh an exciting thing because you know, I think we all have the retailers' best interests in heart. We we all want them to just sell more. And that's kind of like a big push is we can just push for them to sell more. But in the end, if we are not able to, if they aren't able to, then we're we're doing something wrong. Um, but I do want to kind of talk a little bit about um like what diamonds are doing these days.
What The Data Says About Trends
SPEAKER_00I find it to be uh super compelling to look at diamonds. I I look at the gold market all the time, I look at silver, and increasingly I'm looking at diamonds. For a lot of people, when we talk about diamonds, their mind, you close your eyes, what do they think of? They think of a one carat round cut diamond. Um, what is that what you're seeing the most uh volume in? Or are there things that we shouldn't be paying that we should be paying attention to more? Like what um cuts and like you know aspects of diamonds are actually moving the most? What's what's trendy? Let's call it this question.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, what's trending? Yeah. No, and I think that you got it right. But I think that like as the industry evolved and as the customer became more educated, let's call it. And that's something that maybe we'll we'll touch upon later. Because the end consumer these days, the Gen Zs that are getting engaged and everything, they've become so much more informed and educated into what they're looking for in specific diamonds, right? But now, generally speaking, the category of engagement and bridal, when we're talking about what a customer is looking for these days, it becomes a more complex answer because we have what are customers looking for in natural and what are customers looking for in Labyrinth, right? Two separate categories that are starting to behave very differently, at least what we're seeing in our data. Um, so you got it right, I think, that when you said that like the round one carat that is always a classic, that is always a go-to, right? GEH colors, right? Maybe some distinct clarities, and you start playing around from that price point or that specific category, you're looking to upsell something, you know, maybe looking for something slightly cheaper or for a budget, et cetera. But that is always the go-to for the average consumer. Let's call it a round one carat classic in naturals, right? But we're also seeing fairly uh trending now because of the erosion or the decrease that we're seeing in prices in in diamonds, in naturals as well, because we know that there has been a price decrease in naturals, right? So customers are trying to maximize the potential of the budget, and they're taking actually bigger stones in lower colors and clarities. So in the round categories, we are seeing that the 170s, for example, are something that people more and more can afford right now. In GH color, in VS2, SI1, even SI2 clarities sometimes, right? They want something that's a bit bigger, they want something that is still a decent color, and the budget now actually lets them have it because the prices have actually gone down in certain areas 15, 20% in the last uh couple of months, even year to date or last year or so, right? Um, more in the fancy shapes, we know uh that ovals are still fairly strong, and we're seeing uh maybe a peak of interest in ovals to carats actually in higher clarities. So V V S1, V VS2 IFs as well. But generally speaking, I think uh we're seeing it all, the special cuts are taking over more and more. So step cuts, anything like maybe a specific gradient, the old miners, uh, and those specific uh interesting shapes, funky shapes that people looking for actually something unique. Because even within the category of bridal, right? There we always have those classic shapes, well know around pairs, et cetera, et cetera. But now people are looking for maybe you have a specific antique cushion, for example. We all know why, right? Yeah, uh people are looking at all mines, people are looking for those uh specific shapes that are sometimes harder to find because they're looking for something very much unique.
SPEAKER_00It's so that is let's say I love that trend. That's so fascinating.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, because because even within something that is, you know, a diamond is forever and that story about uniqueness in a specific stone that there is nothing like it, right? People are starting to find even more of a niche angle sometimes, and that's what we're seeing or requests. Um and in lab, by the way, different story, different category. Yeah, um, you can't get any lower than a D or E color in lab sometimes, right? At least what's what that's what people are looking for, all very high clarities. And then for the same price point of what you would have, like maybe a 70-porter oval, right? You can now afford yourself a three carat oval in in lab sometimes, right? Or that's that's actually a category that's also trending. Radiance for carats are making an impact as well. So we're seeing three to four carats in labs, higher colors, higher clarities. That's something that's people are always gonna be looking for.
SPEAKER_00Man, it's so fascinating. It almost, correct me if I'm wrong, it sounds kind of like you're almost viewing lab grown and uh natural diamonds as almost two different, you know, two very different products in in uh markets, you know, as one is kind of going towards, you know, trending towards these uh I feel like naturals, it's almost like a slower progression. Like the increments are very, you know, they're going by like 0.1 uh when they scale up, or they're going by one step in the clarities. When it comes to labs, they're jumping like uh seemingly uh a half of a carat every year when it goes to sizing up. Yeah. Um, is that do you kind of see it as like very independent markets, or are they tied together?
SPEAKER_02I mean, they are sort of tied together because it's uh I don't want to say it's the same product, but it's around the same audience of what people are looking for. But I think that the market itself is becoming more and more differentiated, as you said, right? And and we see that certain categories in lab will continue to drop in prices, will continue to drop in demand, because right now no one actually needs a lab one that's half a carat or one carat, unless maybe you're trying to mount it in whatever piece, right? But like for bridal itself, not really interesting. If you go to lab, you'll go to two, three, four carats and up, right? In natural, by the way, if you ask me, what are the categories that are holding steady in terms of prices? Where are prices not moving? You know, in naturals, that's a larger stone. Now you ask yourself, how is it possible when the prices are just eroding so much in both in natural and in lab, how come the two carats in naturals and the three carats in natural are holding steady in prices? That's because this is a more affluent audience that is now purchasing, let's call it a statement stone, a stone that is here to stay, right? And that is what keeps its value over time. And you know, let's say you even want to sell it, you may you want to upset it, you want to replace it sometime and you wanna scale up, as you said. It's gonna be more uh uh of a statement, let's call it, to have a two or three carat natural uh rather than a lab. And I think that like labs, generally speaking, are becoming let's sort, let's sort of call it, like the gateway to this market of diamonds, right? So the first purchase that you will make may actually become more and more a lab ground diamond, but as you've opened this window to yourself and you're you started to see the value and you started to see the uniqueness of a diamond, probably the next uh um you know stone that you want to source for yourself would be maybe natural next time.
SPEAKER_00Wow, what a really interesting point and almost like kind of viewing it as like an asset. All right, everybody, we're gonna take a quick break and hear a word from our sponsor. This
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Gold Prices And Smarter Diamond Shoppers
SPEAKER_00we're back. But just kind of on the topic of maybe like investments, um, again, I've been paying attention a lot to the price of gold. It's kind of like my through thread for the entire year because I think we for a lot of people think that we might have peaked um over five five thousand US dollars um for an ounce of gold uh at the start of the year, it is now coming down, at least as of the publish um publishing of this episode. What do you think, or are you seeing that as gold climbs, that the budget that remains for the stone also has to recede to kind of accommodate for that? Because I sometimes wonder, I've had this conversation with um with retailers, for example, like, why don't you sell a wedding band at the same time as the engagement ring? And sometimes it actually makes a lot of sense though, like, well, I want them to use 100% of their budget towards the wedding band and then come back for the engagement ring because it makes more sense for me to make the money now as opposed to later. And I sometimes wonder if at the same time it's like, okay, like if the price of gold to make that uh setting, it's going to kind of uh the the quantity of the gold is the same, but the price is obviously increasing. I wonder if then as a result, the diamond has to scale down and make these kind of smaller sizes more popular to accommodate.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I mean, generally speaking, as I said, uh I think the end consumer becomes more educated in what they want and how much they're willing to spend on it, right? So they become more informed. And when whenever you know you want to go buy that first engagement ring or you want to buy that first wedding band, you're actually making a bit of research, which is something that people were not used to back in the day, right? Um, so they're looking to explore options, they're willing to make sure uh that they get the best deal possible. Either it'd be if they cut on the price of gold and make sure that they make more of diamond of what they see, right? Or they make sure they want to optimize for the best quality of a diamond that's out there, and maybe they will not even go with gold, right? So it's about uh customer education, I would say. And and I think that like we're seeing more and more retail stores that feel the need to also have the sales reps and the sales associates on the floor become more educated on the process of selling diamonds. I see. Right? And and to be that everybody, I I'd say. Yeah, and I'm sure that you're seeing it also uh on some of like you know the setup of those retail stores and partners that you work with. But I for us, I think that what we're seeing is that retail partners are they they are in desperate, they are in need, A, to make sure that the associates know what they're selling and they know how to talk about diamonds and they know how to talk about the forces, right? And B, that they get the best deal possible because the customer becomes more educated and the customer knows exactly what to expect, right? So you can't, you know, continue to uh manipulate, let's say, the customer or tell them a certain story on how much that specific stone should cost or shouldn't cost, because everyone now has access to all those tools and analytics. They know how much a one carat diamond should cost, generally, like a ballpark estimation, right? So uh um I think it aligns if you allow me to elaborate. For an interval minutes. I think it aligns with our strategy of how does uni help retail stores become more empowered in educating their consumers. So we have that customer-facing mode so that when you have a retail store storefront, right, you have that app that's called Facet now that we launched recently, that you can visualize or show diamonds as if they were your own. And in there, we have some educational tools explaining what are the forces and how to tell what's the difference between an excellent cut diamond versus a VG cut diamond, a very good cut diamond, right? To help the sales associates on the floor walk the customers through the sale process and help them find the right diamond for them. And it can come from two million diamonds all over the world, right? Um, and and then the second one, which is how can you help the retail partners make sure that they pay the right price for the stones that they want to source? So through a partnership that we have with GIA, for any natural stone that's out there, all you need to do is punch a certificate number. And uni right away understands all the characteristics and the parameters of the stone, the forces, the finishing, the fluorescence, the depth percent, and all those diamond two details, right? And comes up with a benchmarking tool of helping you say, you know, this is a round 170 G color VS1 clarity, but uni has 50 more of these. And I don't know what you are offered for that specific stone, but I can help you find something that's maybe 10% cheaper because that's the inventory that's available live for you. All you need to do is click and find a similar stone and make that purchase instead. And it's gonna be if it's in the US, next day you'll have it in your store.
SPEAKER_00Wow. And man, customers, I feel are like are really driven by that deal. And I think that when you can when you can give them that whole like super transparent spiel where, hey, I'm fighting with you, let's work side by side. I do feel like it's very uh compelling to to sit there and be like, hey, let's work together to find you the best deal. I certainly like that when it comes to um, you know, even buying like, yeah, anything that's uh that I kind of feel like is an investment. Um, even if it's tools, like buying going to a hardware store and having them be like, let's find you the best deal. And it's like, oh, I love it. They they have my best interest in heart. They're not just taking my money. Uh, I love that kind of compelling uh thought process.
SPEAKER_02Would you wouldn't you say that like the best sales rep that you've seen or worked with or like you know, have sold something to you? They don't try to actually sell you something, they wanted to work alongside with you. They want to help you, yeah, help you, exactly. They want to solve a pain that you have, right? So interesting that for sure.
SPEAKER_00Great reframing of it. I love that. And um, I guess at the same time, what about um, you know, you're talking about these price changes. And
Memo, Inventory Risk, And Fast Fulfillment
SPEAKER_00I sometimes wonder how memoing can work with like, you know, things are fluctuating every single day. And while it's in your inventory, um, you know, the price might be going up or down or or to the side. Uh, are you is that something that you have to like kind of deal with on a on an ongoing basis? Is like obviously a retailer wants to have the stone in their inventory and they want to show it to their customer. Um, how do you handle like it might be in their hands and then the price might go down or it might go up? Um, how do you handle that something like that?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I mean, uh it's interesting that you're saying that retailers want to hold that inventory because I think that like maybe you can also chime in with your angle here, but I think that like more and more retail partners, no one wants to hold the inventory any longer.
SPEAKER_00No one wants to in their hands, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Exactly. Right, and with price changing all the time, it's it's a pain to try to figure out how to price your inventory as well, right? And and we have tools for dealers to help them also price their inventory and make sure that they're uh uh competitively uh priced and make sure that they their stones are getting selected because we have the data again. Uh uh, but when it comes to memoing options, if no retail part, no retail store actually wants to have the stock in hand, then you have absolute flexibility because you can sell more efficiently. You can always have something in your store next day without actually owning that inventory yourself. Right? So you can move faster, you can be leaner. That you're staying lean, you're staying, you know, agile because you don't actually are invested in that stock that you have in case that you need to sell first. And you can actually cater to more customer demands in real time. So whenever a customer comes in and they want something that you don't have in the case, or even if you do, maybe you can find something that's cheaper that you don't you don't want to lose on the inventory that you have right now, you're sitting on. So you can be more nimble, let's call it, and just order that other stone that's coming from, let's say, you know, 47th Street or whatever. Next day you'll have it in store. You can call the customers, show them maybe alongside the stone that you have in case, maybe two more options and let them choose based on what's actually the delivery the most value for them.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I I'm just worried though, sometimes that we're headed for the a future where retail stores have no product in their in their cases, you know? And like you're you're totally right. Hey, if you don't have any products, then you can be flexible, you can be anything to anyone. However, man, I don't there are certain um watch brands that I really enjoy. If you walk in the store, uh none of the watches are for sale. And it's like, uh, we don't actually have anything. This is just a a branding location. And I'm like, I feel like we're missing the point of a store. Isn't it the same thing with like going into um into a jewelry shop? Man, I would be kind of a bummer if you walk in and it just like all virtual, virtual products. Uh, I feel like I would kind of be missing something. There is something to be gained for a retailer, but I feel like the end consumer slightly suffers. Don't you don't wouldn't you agree?
SPEAKER_02They're looking for something for sure. They want to see something in their eyes, right? Um, and and definitely they want to see that the store has options. But at the end of the day, what they really care for is quality service. Because yeah, they become more sharp, like they could become sharper on the price. They want to make sure that they get the pricing right. But at the end of the day, if the store and the sales associate helped them find the exact stone that they wanted. So let's say the couple got engaged, you know, or they they you know, the couple got engaged in in January 21st, they would want a 121 karat stone, which is exactly that specific stone to mark that special day. Right. So for those cases, you want to make sure that you get the experience and you want to make sure that someone sees you. And that's by the way, what best retail stores are doing, because they're building loyalty and trust. And that they know that maybe the customer will come to you first time, they don't really know you, right? And they will make that first purchase with you because you were sharper on the price. But what will keep them long term and what get them coming back to your store, and that loyalty and trust is built through making sure that you're helping them out and you're positioning yourself as a partner that can help them scale and can help them, you know, uh that they will remember always remember you the best moments of their lives, right? And you see that as well because your best customers are coming back to you each and every time. And that's about building that trust and loyalty. Uh, that's that that that's at least like the atmosphere that the retailer store will try to create, even if the product is not presented right at the right end, but the ability to pull in inventory from anywhere essentially and to find that specific stone alongside the customer, let them choose exactly what they want to see. Right. That I think goes a long way with customers, even still.
SPEAKER_00You know, it you're right. I mean, the the relationships that retailers have with their shoppers is the exact relationship that they expect from their uh their vendor partners, um, in which we consider ourselves. Uh, I've just found that, you know, the relationship sometimes with a shopper could have started, you know, before the shopper was even born. It was with their parents and it was with the, you know, they sold the engagement ring to their parents. And then, you know, they saw this this child um, you know, growing up and they're coming in for these anniversary guests, maybe with the, maybe with, you know, one of the parents. And then, you know, they sell them their engagement ring afterwards. That's a that's a sale that is, you know, 25, 30 years in the making. And with us, we had to change our mindset as well. We have to uh really sit down and like hold the hands of some of our retailers as we walk them through what a website um you know process would look like. And it's not just because you know, websites are complex or they require a lot of thought or anything, it's partially because they expect that kind of service, because that's the service that they provide to their shoppers.
SPEAKER_02So it's a generational sale as well, right? Because if the father used to sell diamonds out of a case that he was holding, right, now they need to move online. You're you're the pioneer, let's call it, right? You want to give make sure that you're giving the absolute best service. So now you're not only selling the technology, you're selling the service and you're selling the experience, right? So uh, you know, I I'm curious also to learn kind of like how you go about trying to figure out how to change the narrative or finding your way with a customer that is they don't actually understand the value of what you bring to the table.
Selling Innovation To Two Generations
SPEAKER_00Yeah, you know, it's hard. It it really is. I think part of it is, you know, we do things like this podcast, a lot of education surrounding it. However, what I am a big focus on, um, actually locally too, for my own community, is I'm very um interested in the next generation. Um, we did a whole campaign about it for uh Punchmark. We did a whole campaign where we were catering specifically to next generation. Very transparently, part of the reason for this is because we have found our best, uh a lot of our best customers are the next generation. And what do I mean by that? It's like the you know they're savvy, yeah, 25 to 45 year olds who took over their parents' store or their parents' parents' store and are moving on, or sometimes it's like a cousin or a uh you know, a store manager that has been there for a long time. But what we find is that they it hammers home a lot easier. But what I just find is that this next generation I find very interesting. We're in a very uh tumultuous time in in the world, and I find that the more education and the more um eyes wide open this next group is going to be. Uh, the the time is very soon when that generation, you know, like I said, 25 to 45 are going to be making a lot of the decisions um as like they get more and more. I don't want to say market share, but like, I guess um, I don't either power or like decision-making capabilities. And that's what I find it's a lot of education, but it's also knowing who you're talking to. You have to speak to this next generation. A lot of times we see it at shows, we are there, who sits down? It's gonna be uh the store owner, and they might be, you know, 65, 75, uh, almost ready to retire. And then it's the next person. And I find it very those conversations are super interesting because you have to almost explain it twice. You have to explain it to the next generation who is like, you know, probably going to be using the tool the most, but you also have to make it to the other, uh, the actual store owner, and like kind of cater and be like, hey, this is going to be good for the long run. This is going to be an investment, this is going to be a um something that scales. And I find that the conversation, you almost have to cover all of the bases all at the same time because some of the points matter so much to one party or the other, uh, that if you skip over them, then you are leaving a lot of important information um in your pocket.
SPEAKER_02That that is so true because I think that's like that that generation is going through a digital transformation, right? And a lot of the businesses that used to be very much brick and mortar are now going more and more online. And they need to generate that online presence, either it be with social media, either it be with having a website, either it be with finding more ways to source. And I think that what really aligns, I would say, between uni and punchmark is that you're making the sale twice, just like you mentioned. And I think that what helps us uh you know stand apart is that we have that combination of expertise, right? So myself, I come, let's call it from more of a startup and high-tech background, right? I used to work in different startups, et cetera. But we have people uh in our company that have been around the trade for like 30 years or 25 years, diamond tears, very heavy experts on like, you know, picking up the loop and looking at each and every stone. They've probably looked at 100,000 stones in their lives, right? Um, and then so so we need to handle that conversation of knowing how to talk to the first generation, only diamonds, only about building trust and a relationship because they're looking for partners. They used to work with people for 25, 30 years. So you want to make sure that you come across as a trusted partner and ally. But at the same time, you want to sell technology, you want to sell scalability. So the idea of that, you know, you can have an endless aisle, all of the options in the world, powered through technology and AI, but at the same time, you want to stay very much uh, you know, feet on the ground, say that I'm here for the longer term, I'm here to build this relationship with you. We're not going anywhere. So just trying to strike that balance or find a way in the in-between to talk about those two different elements.
SPEAKER_00It's it's very, it is a difficult one. I think that the more, the only way I get better at it is by doing it more. It's part of the reason why I have um these retailer roundtables where I get to sit down and and hear what's important. And increasingly it's like what's important to me is isn't sometimes not even the top five or 10 for some of these shoppers. They are just trying to, you know, make a sale, or they're just trying to find a more efficient way to get through it, or they're making the transition from um, you know, uh, what is it, like um, you know, a green book um point of sale system where they're logging everything by hand into a digital one and getting up with the the current times, those transitions are so important to them. And for me, if I'm just like, of course you should be doing that, you you need to do that quicker. Uh when you start getting like exasperated, I feel like suddenly they get defensive. And then it's like, oh, okay, like, hang on, this is a big deal for you. Let's help you through this. And then we can talk about if if we start talking about these omnichannel in-store catered experiences before we start talking about like, hey man, you you got your inventory online. Um, I feel like we are kind of uh putting the cart before the horse in a lot of situations.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and it's it, you know, a a store owner cares about so much stuff. Oh, so much. It's it's not only about the point of sale system or the diamond inventory that they need to source and find and show their customers. It's about making sure that their sales associate showed up on time and making sure that they're stocked up towards the season and that the price of gold bites are are through the roof now. So how am I actually gonna make it next year? And the benturer that you need help from, and you know, the lease and they care about a million different things. So it's about trying to find them, I would say, uh, let's call it in a qualified environment, which is they're willing to listen, they're willing to talk about what's stopping them in their tracks into helping their business grow. And then trying to align alongside with them and tell them, listen, I can, you know, help you get through this with either it'd be supplementing on your inventory to make sure that you have all the options in the world, either it'd be helping you build that own-channel experience so you can scale your operations and try to sell online even without having to actually invest all that effort. And that's where we're gonna build the website for you, right? But like helping them find their way into helping them solve one problem at a time, or what it's called, one problem at a day, to make sure that they're they're they're doing more with the same resources that they can invest in.
SPEAKER_00I think it's just yeah, empowering them. That's uh that's a great way to look at it though, you have. Um, so
Where To Find Uni Diamonds
SPEAKER_00if people were interested in learning more about uni diamonds, having you know millions of diamonds at their at their fingertips, maybe getting these market reports to see uh what their inventory is is doing or which ones they should be investing into. Um, where should they go and to learn more about uni diamonds?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so you can just uh go to uni.diamonds, uni.diamonds, uh plural, um, and you can read all about us. You can just uh sign up right there, right then. We'll be in touch, you know, in a matter of minutes. Um, and you can find over there like uh all of what we're all about, the access to the marketplace itself, uh, with having that endless aisle and options. We can talk about the demo program over there, and you can find more about uh you know the in-store experience with that facet app of like how we can help visualize under your branded guidelines in-store. You can use it on your iPad app. And over there you'll also find like a blog post. Uh, we're posting a bunch of content success stories and blog posts about how we're helping jewelers and retail stores and dealers. Um, and over there you'll also find like the industry report. We have a quarterly industry report. So we've issued an industry report for all of 2025. We've just recently uh published the industry report of what has been changing in the market in Q1 of 2026. So that's also live. You can check it out. Just uh keep in touch and then we're hoping to see you.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think that the the industry reports are are so interesting. Like I was saying, having a unbiased and like kind of a neutral presentation of data is something that I uh I feel like there needs to be more of. Um, a lot of times, a lot of industry or a lot of businesses, um, it's so the data is so precious that they keep it really close to their chest. Understandably so. They spend a lot of time and money aggregating their their data. But whenever there's um whenever there's a report that comes around that like just shows stuff in in you know what you might call plain text, man, I eat that right up. I find it so exciting to um to learn how things are moving and just to get a better understanding because I don't want to store own a store. So I don't know how things are fluctuating in real time. I can only see what's uh done online. So I really appreciate what you guys are doing at uni.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and and by the way, just to say all the reporting that we do is completely anonymous, right? So um the supplier doesn't know who the buyer is, the buyer doesn't know who the supplier is. It's all making sure that it's about where the stone is at, make sure that the price is right. As simple as that, we ship it over to you. And our reporting as well is done aggregated so that there is no specific insight that comes up and says, you know, this is by a specific supplier that changed this and that pricing of this and that policy. It's all aggregated and making sure that we're not uh exposing any sensitive information. But at the same time, we do believe that we have a story to tell about how the industry is changing and shifting in real time, powered by data, powered by AI, completely unbiased and for everyone to consume in real time and make use of their own. That's so cool.
SPEAKER_00Well, thank you so much, Joab. I really appreciate your time. Um, I'll have all that information in the show notes below. Um, go check them out. I think that it's uh it's a really compelling information, and uh I really appreciate your time, Joe. Thank you so much. It was very interesting. Keep in awesome. Have a good rest of your day, everybody. We'll be back next week, Tuesday with another show. Bye. Alright, everybody, that's another show. Thanks so much for listening. My guest this week was Joab from Uni Diamonds. Uh, you can learn more about them in the show notes below. This episode was brought to you by Punchmark and produced and hosted by me, Michael Burpo. This episode was edited by Paul Suarez with music by Ross Cochran. Don't forget to rate the podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and leave us feedback on punchmark.com slash loop. That's L O U P E. Thanks, we'll be back next week Tuesday with another episode. Cheers. Bye.
