Case Study: Vantyghem Diamonds

Building trust through images one click at a time

The app is fantastic! It allows us to control the position of the diamond remotely. The speed at which you can setup and shoot is fantastic. Nothing compares!

The art of the diamond runs in the family. Bringing the expertise from Antwerp to Canada, Founders Arlette and Ralph, and later on, Kevin are a cut above the rest in the diamond trade. With almost half a century in the industry, the Vantyghem Diamonds pioneered branded crowns—ones of unparalleled beauty with the perfect balance of brilliance and fire. Still, it’s not their evident mastery of math and design but the quality relationships they have built with their business partners are the true gems that hold the company as strong and sparkling as ever.

Trust is at the core of every Vantyghem Diamonds’ successful business partnership. A premium value is placed on these relationships as they constantly endeavor to honor their commitment and accommodate the needs of every single individual. In return, the diamantaire has been rewarded with the highest reward—customer trust and friendship.

The Challenge:

No one knows trust better than Vantyghem Diamonds. With almost five decades of experience and expertise, they know trust is hard to earn but easy to lose. The birth of technology and the inevitable rise to power of digital retail and e-commerce have posed new challenges that would soon render traditional business approaches ineffective. Suddenly, trust building requires more than person-to-person interaction. With the internet at play, visuals are power.

Statistics showed that over 75% of online customers relied on product photos when purchasing. With significant influence on purchases, jewelry and diamond photos and videos are considered money; however, jewelers and diamantaires faced a dilemma—not all diamantaires are photographers, and hiring professional photographers would need a considerable amount of time, effort, and money.

Vantyghem Diamonds needed a photography setup for capturing professional quality videos and photos of their loose diamond inventory, but photographing inventory should not take away too much time from the main business activity, which is diamond trading. It’s just not practical.

So, how can we provide them with an efficient photography solution without all the time-consuming tasks that come with it but at the same time, does not compromise quality and customer visual experience?

The Insights:

Vantyghem Diamonds depends on a traditional photography process. Before smartphone cameras were a thing, they relied heavily on regular digital cameras. The entire process was inconvenient. Setting up the photography studio was time-consuming not to mention the lengthy steps required to control the lighting and the technical procedure to transfer the visual files from the camera to the internet.

Primarily, Kevin noted that because not everyone in the industry is well-versed in photographing diamonds, controlling light and adjusting the entire setup just to switch from one white loose diamond to another gemstone was a process too taxing to carry out. He added that the lack of sophisticated, diamond-specific photography devices meant that they could not really show the true details of the diamonds to other professionals while he found capturing the scintillation of the diamonds extremely difficult and impossible. Finally, uploading the images and videos on social media platforms is another horrendous experience.

The Solution:

Simple is possible!

Picup Media created a diamond photography solution that works in just one click using just the smartphone—the GemLightbox Macro.

Macro is engineered using market-leading technology to capture magnificent 10X magnified images and videos of loose diamonds and gemstones, ranging from 0.1 carat to 50 carats.

Based on the Insights given, Macro exhibited a good understanding of Vantyghem Diamonds’ needs and responded to them with point-by-point
precision.

No setup required, place it on a table and you're good to go!

Picup Media prides itself in making simple possible. This beautiful fixation with simplicity is manifested in every photography solution we introduce to our clients, and Macro stays true to that principle. To make it work, you simply place the box on your desk and capture! There is absolutely zero knowledge required or unnecessary time-consuming setup.

A perfect lighting environment for all types of loose gemstones

To avoid the inconvenience of switching between different light setups, Macro was fitted with four different lighting options that Vantyghem Diamonds could turn on and off, depending on the need of the stones they are photographing.

Since capturing color accuracy was one of the challenges raised by Vantyghem Diamonds, Macro took the challenge and delivered accurate details with every click. We understand that different gems require different lighting. Macro provided a lighting environment with perfect lighting temperature to capture accurate colors of all loose diamonds and gemstones.

The GemLightbox App takes the pain out of diamond photography

Kevin Vantyghem found the GemLightbox app a winning feature of Macro. The fact that they can connect the turntable to the app via Bluetooth is already half the job done without dealing with all the frustration that usually comes with their previous traditional approach.

What the GemLightbox application does is optimize the smartphone camera settings for jewelry and loose gemstone photography to allow jewelers and diamantaires to capture professional-quality photos and videos every single time.

Indeed, the GemLightbox app enables maximum flexibility to allow diamantaires to show their diamonds in the best light possible. In addition, the turntable addressed Vantyghem Diamonds’ desire to show scintillation. The GemLightbox turntable enables diamantaires to capture professional-quality 360 videos of loose diamonds with 10x magnification.

This is an essential part of Macro because a good diamond video is an excellent tool for showing diamond scintillation patterns. When Vantyghem Diamonds captured 360 videos of their loose diamonds, they saw the dynamic effect that makes up the scintillation. They also noted the size and frequency of sparkle events generated by the diamond in motion. This is a good way of showing a diamond’s light performance and it’s exactly what their business partners would see when they viewed their 360 videos. In a digital world, a 360 video of a diamond is an excellent exhibition of how the diamond will sparkle in real-world situations.

Finally, transferring files from the photography device to the internet is relatively effortless because of the app gallery where Vantyghem Diamonds managed to save their photos and videos immediately after shooting and from the gallery to various social media platforms.

In business, time is money, and wasted time equals wasted or lost money. Macro has helped Vantyghem Diamonds maximize time and allocate it where it is most needed. Whereas they spent a significant amount of time setting up photography devices before they discovered Macro, now Macro has afforded them the speed they need to shoot and go without compromising quality.

As Kevin Vantyghem noted, time was one of the most important aspects of this solution as it allowed them to capture professional images and videos of their diamond inventory. With the speed and instant professional quality, they were able to upload the visual assets to their inventory software program quickly and effortlessly. In a matter of minutes, their customers could view the images and videos and make a buying decision. Kevin Vantyghem specifically celebrated the fact that Macro has enabled them to upload instantly to social media. He noted that it was effective and efficient and has tremendously helped create interest in their company and the goods they offer.

See How Vantyghem Diamonds Used the GemLightbox Macro