Kristal (Vinnitsa jewelry factory Crystal)
The product range includes the widest selection of gold jewelry with genuine diamonds, pearls, emeralds, sapphires and other precious stones of the highest quality. Vinnitsa Crystal jewelry is distinguished primarily by the impeccable quality of each product - from exclusive to collectible models. The widest range of jewelry techniques and decorative processing techniques are used to make jewelry.
In their work, the factory's jewelers and designers use traditional classical jewelry techniques along with innovative production technologies; their professionalism allows them to create jewelry lines in line with current jewelry fashion trends and consistently update the range of products. Vinnitsky has real diamond craftsmen who are fluent in the art of finishing even the smallest jewelry diamonds. For more than 35 years, the factory has been cutting diamonds of the highest quality that meet all the requirements of the diamond market and have the famous quality image of “Russian Cut”.
Working with its own raw materials, the factory produces diamonds of traditional round shapes and fancy cut shapes: marquise, pear, oval, emerald, princess and others. All sections of the diamond production plant are each focused on their own customer and operate according to a complete closed cycle of all operations and processes. This allows you to efficiently and quickly carry out several different orders simultaneously. The yield of suitable products reaches the limit: 58–70% for fancy-shaped diamonds, 40–48% for traditional-shaped diamonds. On the eve of the company's 25th anniversary in 1996, a 57-facet diamond with almost no mass was created. The size of the diamond is so small that 1000 similar stones would weigh no more than 1 carat.
The factory's craftsmen are always working to improve the cutting process. In 2002, Vinnitsky patented a round diamond with 89 facets, “Ariadna-89,” made by factory craftsmen. This diamond stands out for its special aesthetic expressiveness with its traditional round shape, and with the help of technological cutting details, the production of suitable products reaches 60%. Vinnitsky is one of several famous manufacturers that can offer their customers the impeccable look of the Heart and Arrow cut. This type of cut has been developed for 20 years and today is a sign of the impeccability of a diamond cut. Abroad, the term Ideal Cat is used for stones that meet the requirements of this type of cut. The key to the renowned level of quality of Vinnitsa diamonds is the high qualifications of the factory’s craftsmen, stable computer control, the use of the latest world achievements in the diamond processing field at each diamond creation operation and the effective creation of production.
The history of Vinnitsa Crystal began with the production of the first diamond, which weighed 0.13 carats, on March 1, 1973. The plant began sending its products for export on January 3, 1974. And in 1975, on November 6, the plant already produced its millionth diamond. The year 2002 is considered to be the beginning of jewelry production. 7 factory employees have international diplomas from the most authoritative association in the world that evaluates diamonds - the Gemological Institute of America (GIA). Over the 35 years of its existence, the plant produced approximately 70 million diamonds for a total value of 1.2 billion dollars, and processed diamonds with a total weight of about 1 ton. Vinnitsky’s two main directions are the production of diamonds and the creation of jewelry with diamonds ™ Vinnitsa Crystal.
The State Property Fund has put up Vinnytsia for privatization, the State Property Fund reports.
The auction for the privatization of 100% of the plant's shares will take place on October 1 this year. The starting price of the object is 89.9 million hryvnia.
The new owner will receive technological equipment for processing rough diamonds and producing diamond jewelry, as well as real estate of the enterprise.
The plant has been operating since 1973; in 1992, jewelry production was created there. The plant provides a full cycle of diamond processing from raw materials to finished products for the state and world markets. The plant can also produce diamonds of classic cut shapes with 57 facets. At the moment, according to preliminary data, Kristall produces more than 5 thousand models of jewelry.
What happened before
In June, a large-scale reconstruction of the Kristall technology park, located on 600th Anniversary Street, began in Vinnitsa. It should be completed by the end of the year...
“It will be the first municipal innovation center in Ukraine. The plant building will be turned into a modern business incubator, which will become a magnet for creative youth. We have been working on this strategic project since 2021. Due to the pandemic, the start of work was forced to be postponed. I’m glad that we managed to enter the construction stage,” wrote mayor Sergei Morgunov on Facebook.
Let us note that the innovation and technology park “Crystal” will be located on three floors – this is 8.5 thousand m2 of premises.
“In the old building, almost all worn-out structures are being dismantled: roofing, partitions, floors. They will also strengthen the foundation and install monolithic reinforced concrete floors, replace the roof with a membrane one and install columns. Everything should be done by the end of this year. We reserved 23 million UAH for this, of which 8.5 million came from the community budget, the rest was raised from the state. Next year we will move on to other technological work,” the mayor noted.
The architectural design of the building will correspond to the main idea of the center - innovation. The functionality was developed taking into account the best world experience, and regarding the concept of the future Kristall park, Vinnytsia residents consulted with experts from the existing technology park from the Polish sister city Kielce.
The areas of the technology park will accommodate:
- IT school
- Fab Lab for startups
- adult training center
- children's technology center
- coworking space
- more than 100 classic and club offices
- conference rooms.
“Our goal is for this space to come to life in a few years.” Innovative activity will add serious investment. I am confident that the innovation and technology park will become an important support point for the economy not only of our region, but also of the country. And it is important that the technology park will open up opportunities for self-realization for talented young people who can be successful in their hometown,” the head of the city emphasized.
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Interview with the owner of the jewelry factory in Ukraine “Sharm”, Vinnitsa
Nikolai Gonta is a famous jeweler with 20 years of experience, a businessman, the founder of a jewelry store in Vinnitsa and the all-Ukrainian chain of stores “B2B.Jewelry”, Person of the Year 2021, awarded a commemorative statuette “Nika” in the category for Social Justice.
In an interview for Vinnytsia.info, the jeweler shared life hacks and interesting facts, spoke about the mundane problems of jewelry manufacturers in Ukraine, and how, despite the business crisis, sales of jewelry factory products rapidly increased. Also about the importance of “Team” for success.
— Congratulations on the award “Entrepreneur of the Year 2019 in Vinnytsia Region ” ! How long have you been involved in business?
— I started doing business when I was just a kid, there wasn’t always profit, but I always gained experience. Already in 1995, I opened my first store in the city of Ladyzhyn (Vinnytsia region), with a large retail area, like a small market, the range of goods in this store is very different, including two display cases with jewelry. I really liked the jewelry trade, so all my subsequent stores were only jewelry stores.
In 1999, I began to create my own jewelry workshop in Vinnitsa. I selected a team of future masters and paid for their studies. The transformation from a small workshop into a real jewelry factory took about three years. By 2003, the staff numbered 150 people with a large network of stores in different cities of Ukraine, as well as up to 2,000 thousand wholesale customers.
The factory actively began to take part in all International exhibitions and has many diplomas and certificates. has become popular, and most importantly reliable (in terms of quality and guarantees) for its customers.
— Which exhibitions have you participated in, which ones do you remember?
— The products of our factory were exhibited at many exhibitions, both in Kyiv and abroad: in Madrid, Barcelona, Bangkok and Hong Kong.
Each exhibition is a significant event for us, another victory and desire to move forward.
— What difficulties do jewelry manufacturers in Ukraine have, and how do you overcome them?
— As for difficulties, they exist, of course, in any industry.
And the most important thing is sales, sales of manufactured products.
Our factory did not have any big problems with this, since we have our own network of stores, thanks to which we always know the demand, so to speak, first-hand from the consumer.
— Is there a museum or showroom?
— There is no museum of our products at the factory itself, but our stores have always been not only points for selling goods, but also a place for exhibitions of our products, where you can always see almost our entire assortment, see collections of different years, from the first to the last, which created for the European market; admire, try on, get advice from experienced sales managers and, finally, buy or place an order for the model you like in any metal color.
Also, here you will be taught to understand what types of samples there are, what “assay control” is and addresses where you can always check any of your products for quality.
— Are there any plant employees who have been with you from the very first day?
— I’m very glad that my team, created by me almost 20 years ago (of course, not in full force), is still with me. For this I am very grateful to them. These are jewelers - specialists with a capital letter, with vast experience. Professionals in their field!
— What kind of staff do you have?
— Today, the Sharm factory employs 56 people, all of them are experienced jewelers who know their business.
— How difficult is it to choose a reliable supplier of materials?
— It’s difficult when you just start collaborating for the first time. But we have been working with our regular suppliers for several years, and it’s not at all difficult)))
— Tell us a secret for readers, perhaps useful advice.
- Secret tip? OK then. For example, do you know how to check the authenticity of gold at home ? After all, there are a lot of fakes now, and the services of paid laboratories are not suitable for everyone.
In fact, there are many recommendations, I’ll tell you one of them.
Vinegar and iodine more accurately determine the authenticity of gold than, for example, a magnet or other known methods. To do this, rub the ring or chain on denim. Then apply a small layer of iodine with a cotton swab to the area where you rubbed it. If after 30 seconds the place where you applied iodine darkens, then it is not real gold, but if the color remains the same, then it is real high-grade gold.
You can also dip a gold item in vinegar for a minute or two: if it gets dark, it’s fake, if not, it’s real gold. These are the little secrets)))
— Is there any product that you remember most?
— In 2021, we created a unique collection of jewelry, which has no analogues in the world, developed for the European markets.
This collection was shown at exhibitions in Spain: in Madrid and Barcelona. Models in a brutal style, a combination of silver and minerals, were very popular not only abroad, but also here, in Ukraine.
— What is the most expensive product made to order?
— The largest order we had was a gold chain, weaving called “Bismarck”, weighing 450 grams, costing 629 thousand UAH. This is a keepsake for us!
— Were there “stars” or just famous people among the clients? Who?
- Yes, there were, and a lot. But, for ethical reasons, I won’t say who exactly)
— There is a tendency today that it is not a problem to produce something, the problem is to sell it later. How have you resolved the issue of product sales today?
— During times of crisis in jewelry stores, trade always goes into a steep decline. Orders to the factory are coming in less and less, because of this there is a decline in production. In order not to lose everything that had been built for many years, I actively began to look for a sales market abroad. The European experience became very useful for me, it was thanks to it that I penetrated into the science of marketing and began to develop my own program directly for the jewelry business. Thus, the “B2B Jewelry” business project developed by me, which has no analogues in the world, appeared.
The main direction of the project is to attract clients. To interest a person so that in any everyday situation, when thinking about gifts for family or friends, he knows that the best gift is a piece of jewelry purchased in B2B stores.
And now, after a year of work on the project, it showed that it was developed correctly, and the growth of my company rapidly went up. Already in the first year, we not only resolved the issue of selling our products, but also connected several more of our domestic manufacturers to sell their products in our network of B2B Jewelry stores.
I would like to note that we very carefully check the quality of metal and products before concluding an agreement and introducing the products of a new manufacturer into our network.
— What are your plans for the next 5 years?
— What plans might the manufacturer have? Of course, don’t stop there, create new collections, surprise and delight your customers.
More specifically, we are heading towards scaling and plan to open stores in every regional and district center of Ukraine, and also enter the European market.
Our immediate goal is a network of B2B Jewelry stores in 30 countries.
And we say to each of our clients from the bottom of our hearts: “Live in abundance”!
And our managers, who are mostly girls, came up with one more thing: “In the 21st century, the best gift is not a book, but jewelry from B2B Jewelry!”
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