Five Minute Focus: Céline Gouwy – Diamond House Jewellery

Tell us about yourself

My name is Céline Gouwy and I am a diamond expert at Diamond House Jewellery. I trained as a gemologist (someone who studies and grades gemstones) and spent my early career working in laboratories grading up to 150 diamonds a day. My eyes are trained to see everything!

It was through this work that I first met Rob (van Beurden), owner of Diamond House Jewellery, who has since become my husband and later my boss! ‘The King of Colour’ and ‘The Queen of Clarity’ are the nicknames we go by in this industry, each having our own talent to judge a diamond on its quality, so we make a good team!

Travel is my passion and I build this into my working life with trips to London and Dublin every other week and regular trips to Italy to meet jewellery designers and manufacturers. When not working, I am either planning a trip to some exotic land or on that trip! My most recent trip was to Northern India which was heaven on earth.

I also like to keep fit and can be found at weekends running, swimming or cooking for friends and family.

Tell us about Diamond House

Diamond House Jewellery is a direct supplier of the finest quality certified diamonds and luxury diamond jewellery from source in Antwerp at practically wholesale diamond prices.

We buy directly from diamond cutters in Antwerp and hand-make to order so that we are able to offer

• higher quality diamonds (including excellent cut and ideal cut diamonds) that meet your Cut, Carat, Colour and Clarity criteria
• fancy coloured diamonds, rare and exclusive diamonds.
• individual handmade designs tailored to suit your particular tastes
• competitive prices for high-value diamonds, typically saving up to 50% when compared to many branded designer jewellery shops
• the biggest selection of diamonds from the largest diamond marketplace
• the advantage of Antwerp diamond quality and pricing from the convenience of a London and Dublin location
• the best cut-quality, premier cut diamonds directly from Antwerp combined with individual, tailored designs

What’s your role at Diamond House?

My role is to bring the diamond industry and prices from Antwerp to London & now Dublin. Our prices are much more favourable than those in high-end stores and the diamonds are the same, the certificates are the same because we have direct access to the same suppliers as all the big brands like Tiffany & Cartier.

Buying an engagement ring, a special birth, birthday or anniversary present are moments when people need to feel they can trust you. We build that trust by offering a unique, personalised shopping experience where important decisions are handled with care and the time spent working with clients is educational, creative and fun.

Tell us something about Diamond House we may not know

Because we are technical experts with years of experience, there is very little we don’t know about diamonds. As a result, we can sometimes say to a customer with a specific wish: don’t do it! That makes us unique.

If we determine that something technically involves too much risk or that a customer is aiming for far too high quality, which we believe is not in their best interest or the best use of their money, then we are the first to say: leave it and we find a better option.

In the end, it is of course still about the design and how beautiful the jewel looks. But we guide customers on the way there. We place a lot of emphasis on informing and educating so people come back to us time and again and send their family and friends.

What’s next for your company?

We are only at the beginning of our journey in Ireland having launched in March this year with a Diamond Cocktail at The Merrion Hotel. We have engaged a business development partner, Dervla McKenna who is working with us to build the brand and look after our business and clients in Ireland.

It has been an exciting start and we are currently meeting clients by appointment every 2 weeks. One thing that has struck us is the strong market Ireland is for successful women who are not shy about treating themselves to a signature piece of jewellery.

We are keen to bring transparency and 40 years experience in this dynamic industry to the Irish consumer. So we invite any and all questions.

What do you think is the future of work?

Being open to new possibilities and being flexible are key values we embrace because the world is changing very quickly and we need to be able to adapt to those changes and see the opportunities they present.

We work collaboratively with suppliers, designers, manufacturers and clients every day across multiple locations, languages and using all the latest technology available.

A few years ago all our business was done in person or by phone, now we have 3D designs via email, Zoom calls to present concepts and communication with clients via Whatsapp and social media platforms. Would these have been the tools cited as important to our work a few short years ago? For sure not.

Sometimes challenging the status quo is what is required to find the optimal solution and if you love what you do, then work can be play!

What do you like about being a Glandore Member?

From our first encounter with Glandore we were impressed by the friendliness and can-do attitude of everyone we dealt with. We required a flexible solution and Glandore provided what we needed even though it was a bit different.

This is a very supportive and nurturing space for a small overseas business building a presence in Ireland and we appreciate the network and countrywide presence.

Saturday nights in or Saturday nights out?

Because I am away a lot for work, I like nothing more than curling up at home on a Saturday night or hanging out with friends and family locally in Antwerp.